Professor Owen Johnson wrote:

A Reuter story of 23 June 97 (1:08 p.m. EDT) suggests that TV Nova may notbe as dominant as heretofore thought. It cites the first peoplemetermeasurements by Taylor Nelson AGB Media Facts as showing only 54% ofviewers aged 15 and over watching Nova, rather than the 70% shown indiaries.

Czech newspapers have actually reported these figures as a confirmation of what was expected.

Thus, for instance, Slovo wrote on 24th June 1997:

"The results obtained by means of the "peoplemeters" between 2nd and 8th June, 1997, have brought no surprises. They have confirmed the highest viewing figures for Nova TV, 26 per cent for Czech TV 1, 8 per cent for Prima TV and 6 per cent for CT2."

I have received confidential information from within Czech (public service) TV which cannot be verified: Apparently, the viewing figures from the "peoplemeters" have caused real alarm in Czech public service TV because it was realised that a number of programmes had actually much lower viewing figures than had been expected. As a result it has been apparently decided drastically to overhaul Czech TV's viewing schedules, from the autumn season. Pessimists expect that CT will slide towards much more low brow material.

Here is an article published in Slovo on 25th June, 1997:

Peoplemeters are whips in the hands of viewers

Imagine if suddenly pupils at school started dictating to their teachers what they should be taught. Pupils would suddenly demand of their teachers only what corresponded to their whims, moods and their level of sophistication, education and experience. Teachers would comply with these requests from pupils and would excuse the low quality of their teaching by saying that the pupils actually demand the lowest common denominator.

(But is TV - or should it be - in the role of a teacher? JC)

Well - we cannot quite imagine this. And yet - in a metaphorical sense - we witness this situation daily, in the relationship between television broadcasters and their viewers.

TV broadcasters are now in a state of permament fear of their viewers. Broadcasters are afraid that the moods of the general public and the relatively low levels of sophistication of the majority of viewers will be agressively abused so that commercial TV may benefit.

It is of course possible to speculate about the role of television, what it is, how it changes as society changes. We may wonder whether - due to the happy circumstances prevailing in Czechoslovakia in the 1960s - we may have perhaps overestimated the [beneficial] the role of television.

We can speculate whether viewers would demand such enormous amounts of cruelty and stupidity if it was not offered to them in the first place.

TV viewing figures are now being obtained using peoplemeters in the Czech Republic. This has confirmed that Nova TV has a marked lead in viewing figures over Czech [ public service] Television. Moreover, the new data also shows that even on Czech TV viewers prefer the more primitive and the more debased programes.

The company, carrying out the research, has confirmed that although it is using a representative sample of Czech population, nevertheless, it uses mostly those households where the TV is on most of the time.

It is obvious that those viewers who will switch on their television sets only to watch a particular outstanding programme on CT 2 do not belong to households in which the TV is on all the time. So this slightly undermines the results of the analysis.

But one things is very alarming: Commercial TV stations (Nova and Prima) have gained a very strong influence over the children between the age of 10 and 14. Every week, 74 per cent of these children watch TV Nova, 6 per cent watch TV Prima, 16 per cent watch CT1 and 2 per cent watch CT2.

That is a warning that should be heeded by parents and teachers alike. It is undoubtedly connected with the moral climate in our society.

Otakar Kosek

(Translated by Jan Culik, Glasgow University)