Replication data for: Has Cable Ended the Golden Age of Presidential Television? (doi:10.7910/DVN/H7HDX9)

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Part 1: Document Description
Part 2: Study Description
Part 3: Data Files Description
Part 4: Variable Description
Part 5: Other Study-Related Materials
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Document Description

Citation

Title:

Replication data for: Has Cable Ended the Golden Age of Presidential Television?

Identification Number:

doi:10.7910/DVN/H7HDX9

Distributor:

Harvard Dataverse

Date of Distribution:

2007-11-28

Version:

1

Bibliographic Citation:

Samuel Kernell; Matthew A. Baum, 2007, "Replication data for: Has Cable Ended the Golden Age of Presidential Television?", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/H7HDX9, Harvard Dataverse, V1, UNF:3:+cGocJBTyZqyBGf2cPbXCw== [fileUNF]

Study Description

Citation

Title:

Replication data for: Has Cable Ended the Golden Age of Presidential Television?

Identification Number:

doi:10.7910/DVN/H7HDX9

Authoring Entity:

Samuel Kernell (University of California, San Diego)

Matthew A. Baum (University of California, San Diego)

Producer:

American Political Science Review

Date of Production:

1999

Distributor:

Harvard Dataverse

Distributor:

Harvard Dataverse

Date of Deposit:

2007-10-03

Date of Distribution:

2007

Holdings Information:

https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/H7HDX9

Study Scope

Keywords:

Social Sciences

Abstract:

For the past 30 years, presidents have used prime-time television addresses and press conferences to promote their policies and themselves to the American people. For most of this era, presidents have been able to commandeer the national airwaves and speak to captive television audiences. Recent evidence suggests, however, that the president is losing his audience. In this article we investigate two leading alternative explanations for the erosion of the president's television audience: the rise of political cynicism and the growth of cable. We first develop a model of the individual's decision calculus in determining whether or not to watch the president. We derive a series of hypotheses concerning the situational and behavioral factors which determine whether viewers will elect to watch the president. We then test the model's predictions with both time-series and cross-sectional data -- the former through analysis of 128 Nielsen ratings for prime-time presidential addresses and press conferences during the years 1969 to 1998, and the latter through an investigation of the 1996 NES survey. We conclude that cable television -- not political cynicism -- has, indeed, ended the golden era of presidential television. Moreover, we find evidence in the scheduling of addresses that both presidents and the broadcast networks have begun adapting strategically to this new reality.

Time Period:

1969-1998

Methodology and Processing

Sources Statement

Data Access

Notes:

<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0">CC0 1.0</a>

Other Study Description Materials

Related Publications

Citation

Title:

Baum, M., & Kernell, S. (1999). Has Cable Ended the Golden Age of Presidential Television? American Political Science Review, 93(1), 99-114.

Identification Number:

10.2307/2585763

Bibliographic Citation:

Baum, M., & Kernell, S. (1999). Has Cable Ended the Golden Age of Presidential Television? American Political Science Review, 93(1), 99-114.

File Description--f655301

File: webprime.tab

  • Number of cases: 134

  • No. of variables per record: 9

  • Type of File: text/tab-separated-values

Notes:

UNF:3:+cGocJBTyZqyBGf2cPbXCw==

Data file for this study

Variable Description

List of Variables:

Variables

date

f655301 Location:

Variable Format: numeric

Notes: UNF:3:a4nArXbKf8eLNAsBm0HZkA==

aah

f655301 Location:

Variable Format: numeric

Notes: UNF:3:VDGi8dn3I2mtpcX0ygB3jg==

cable

f655301 Location:

Variable Format: numeric

Notes: UNF:3:jSkLm8/YljgVUUpXveV1/g==

netshare

f655301 Location:

Variable Format: numeric

Notes: UNF:3:vgL2hErzWyBZ8ujoU8KXuQ==

time

f655301 Location:

Variable Format: numeric

Notes: UNF:3:4amEsutg8NWiYOmSjrmaxQ==

approve

f655301 Location:

Variable Format: numeric

Notes: UNF:3:ufb96F5afah5PDsQgwLoSg==

stunion

f655301 Location:

Variable Format: numeric

Notes: UNF:3:Lv4hhmAoiUUZETJTHnMsNw==

address

f655301 Location:

Variable Format: numeric

Notes: UNF:3:uogWy5keoHLDHB+yXAA15Q==

newsconf

f655301 Location:

Variable Format: numeric

Notes: UNF:3:ixljdpYZI5QiE7kQ3diL3Q==

Other Study-Related Materials

Label:

webprime.xls

Text:

Data file for this study in original excel format

Notes:

application/vnd.ms-excel