Trends in Tobacco Use on Television

LAWRENCE WALLACK, DRPH In an analysis of a week-long sample of prime time and weekend daytime (children's) programming in 1979, Abstract: A two-week composite sample of prime time televiGerbner, et al,9 found limited smoking on television. Eleven sion programming from fall 1984 was analyzed for portrayals of per cent of male and 2 per cent of female major characters alcohol and tobacco. Earlier studies note that smoking acts have smoked, with less smoking in situation comedies and more in progressively declined, suggesting smoking is no longer as frequent crime and adventure programs. on prime time television. The current study notes higher levels of Long-term trend data on situation comedies and dramas smoking. This could be an indication that smoking is returning, covering approximately three decades are reported in a and/or related to recent programming changes featuring more drastudy by Breed and DeFoe.'0 A marked decline was obmas on prime time television. (Am J Public Health 1986; served in the rate of smoking acts in general (Table 1). 76:698-699.) Findings indicate that smoking was never very popular on situation comedies but was more frequent on dramatic series. For the latest season studied (1981-82), a viewer Introduction would have had to watch more than two hours of television Cigarette smoking continues to be America's number to see one smoking act, a rate consistent with Greenberg's one health risk factor accounting for approximately 1,000 1978-79 study, but most notable is the precipitous decline deaths each day." 2 In recent years changes in public attiover the time period studied in smoking acts on dramatic tudes, declining sales, and reductions in the proportion of series. the population who are smokers have been encouraging trends.25 Yet expanding marketing budgets for tobacco Methods companies and an expanding economy may well pose a The current study analyzed smoking in a sample of threat to the declining consumption trend. prime time television programs from fall 1984. A composite The present study reporting the frequency of smoking two-week sample drawn randomly over a seven-week period on television is part of a larger research project conducting was taped. detailed content analysis of alcohol on television. Coding of The study was designed to obtain and analyze only smoking was added to the project. routine network programming. Thus, if a regularly scheduled Previous Studies entertainment program was preempted due to non-routine special events, such as political and sports events, the next Several studies have looked at the rate of smoking on time slot of the following week was selected for taping. television. While sampling frames and methods differ, the Non-fiction programs such as "20-20" and an outdoor nature observed rate of smoking has been consistently low, espeprogram were dropped from the sample and not replaced. cially in comparison to alcohol. The sample contained 33 situation comedies (16.5 McEwen and Hanneman6 analyzed one week (112 hours), 67 dramas (68 hours), 12 movies made for TV (23 hours) of prime time programming in March 1973. The hours), four theatrical movies (eight hours), 10 comedy/ sampling frame was three major networks and one public variety shows (6.5 hours), and one "other" program (1/2 television network. Combining comedy, drama, and news hour), culminating in 127 separate episodes totaling 122.5 talk programming, .19 smoking-related incidents per hour hours of programming. Consistent with previous studies, were observed. Smoking incidents were highest on dramatic series (.44 per hour) and comedy (.38 per hour). comedy/variety and "other" programs were not included in the final data analysis. The final analysis is based on 116 Greenberg, et al,7 analyzed a composite week of proepisodes covering 115.5 hours of programming (Table 2). gramming for the 1976-77 and 1977-78 seasons. Variety Two types of smoking acts were coded: 1) prepared to shows, public affairs, movies, sports, and miscellaneous smoke or smoking a cigarette; and 2) prepared to smoke or non-fiction programs were excluded. Approximately 60 smoking other kinds of tobacco. The latter category included hours representing eight different shows were obtained. In the 1976-77 season, .70 tobacco acts per hour were obany smoking item that was not a white cigarette such as served. The rate declined in the subsequent 1977-78 season cigarillo, cigar, or pipe. to .48, or approximately one tobacco act for every two hours of programming. Results In another study conducted in 1979-80. Greenberg8 There were 107 smoking acts taking place within 115.5 analyzed the top 10 prime time fictional television series and hours of programming, approximately one smoking act (.93) the two top-rated soap operas and found: situation comedies during each hour of programming. While the viewer was made up 80 per cent of the programs; only five tobacco acts over a 40-hour period were noted, a near complete absence TABLE 1-Smoking Acts on Prime Time Television Programs, 1950-82* of smoking.
AND
Address reprint requests to Lawrence Wallack, DrPH, Director, Prevention Research Center, 2532 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704. Dr. Wallack is also with the School of Public Health, University of California, at Berkeley; Mr. Cruz is with the Prevention Research Center. This paper, submitted to the Journal August 2, 1985, was revised and accepted for publication November 20, 1985.
1986 American Journal of Public Health 0090-0036/86$1.50

JON CRUZ, MA<,

(rate per hour)

Programming
Situation Comedies Dramatic Series
*SOURCE: Ref. 10.

1950-63
.78 4.52

1964-70
.26 2.43

1971-77
.08 .70

1981-82
.13 .35

698

AJPH June 1986, Vol. 76, No. 6

PUBLIC HEALTH BRIEFS

TABLE 2-Rate of Smoking Acts on Prime Time Television, 1984 (rate per

hour)
Situation Comedies
Dramas
1.01 68

Movies (for TV)

.83 23

Movies

(Theatre)
1.62 8

Total
.93 115.5

Smoking Acts Number of Hours

.36 16.5

likely to see approximately one smoking act (1.01) per hour of drama, approximately three hours of situation comedies would have to be watched to view a smoking act. These data may suggest a break in the trend toward less tobacco on television. Almost two-thirds of smokers were lead characters. Male smokers outnumbered females by three to one; 70 per cent were cast in strong and enduring roles, with the remainder presented as "bad", ouside the law, eliciting some form of punishment or retribution. The frequent and routine appearance of smoking characters-such as Alexis (Joan Collins) on "Dynasty"-is considered more important than whether or not the character is portrayed as "good"; such characters have staying power, are on week after week, and are central to plots. The assumption that smokers on television are predominantly "negative" is not supported by the study. Only one case was observed which attempted to point out that smokers may desire to quit.
Discussion Since previous studies have used different sampling frames and methods, comparisons and conclusions need to be tentative. It is possible that our data reflect an artifact of changing types of measures and samples. Future research should strive toward methodological consistency. Smoking acts on dramatic shows have been observed as consistently higher in the amount of smoking behavior when compared to situation comedies. The decline of smoking noted in previous studies may have been due in part to programming changes. Situation comedies were more numerous in the mid- to late 1970s. Recently, however, prime time dramas have been predominant and this may be responsible for the noted increase in smoking behavior. Prime time smokers are likely to be cast in lead roles which present strong and enduring characters. Social learning theory suggests that these acts may provide attractive I and serve to counter role models for youth as well as adults" or reduce the effect of public health messages about smok-

ing. This is a likelihood if no response questioning the behavior is shown. Television may be an important mechanism for education about smoking. The presumed absence of smoking on television should not be taken for granted. Indeed, it is questionable whether the absence of smoking is a desirable goal. Consideration should be given to the educational opportunities of weaving interactions regarding smoking risks and methods for quitting into scripts. Some success has been reported working with the television industry to provide more accurate portrayals of the problems associated with alcohol.'2 There is a need for continued education of media gatekeepers to ensure a high level of knowledge about the serious public health consequences of smoking.
Work on this paper was supported by a grant from the Regional Cancer Foundation (San Francisco and Marin), Better Health Programs and a National Alcohol Research Center grant (#AA06282-03) from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, Berkeley, California. We would also like to thank Ernest H. Rosenbaum, MD, of the Regional Cancer Foundation for his support. Also, Virginia Ernster, PhD, provided excellent suggestions for the study that we found most useful. We also appreciate the suggestions of Warren Breed, PhD.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I. Surgeon General's Report on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. DHEW Pub. No. 79-55071. Washington, DC: Govt Printing Office, 1979. 2. Ravenholt RT: Addiction mortality in the United States, 1980: tobacco, alcohol and other substances. Pop Dev Rev 1984; 10:697-724. 3. Cigarette sales down 8% in 1983. New York Times, June 19, 1985. 4. Miller J: National Survey on Drug Abuse: Main Findings 1982. DHHS Pub. No. (ADM)83-1263. Washington, DC: National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1983. 5. Johnston L, O'Malley P, Bachman J: Use of Licit and Illicit Drugs by America's High School Students, 1975-1984. DHHS Pub. No. (ADM)851394. Washington, DC: National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1985. 6. McEwen WJ, Hanneman GJ: The depiction of drug use in television programming. J Drug Educ 1974; 4:281-293. 7. Greenberg BS, Fernandez-Collado C, Graef D, Korzenny F, Atkin CK: Trends in use of alcohol and other substances on television. J Drug Educ 1979; 9:243-253. 8. Greenberg BS: Smoking, drugging and drinking in top rated tv series. J Drug Educ 1981; 11:227-234. 9. Gerbner G, Morgan M, Signorielli N: Programming health portrayals: what viewers see, say, and do. NIMH/DHHS Pub. No. (ADM)82-1196. Washington, DC: NIMH, 1982, 291-307. 10. Breed W, DeFoe JR: Drinking and smoking on television, 1950-1982. J Public Health Policy 1984; 5:257-270. 11. Bandura A: Aggression: A Social Learning Analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1973. 12. Breed W, DeFoe JR: Effecting media change: the role of cooperative consultation on alcohol topics. J Commun 1982; 32:88-99.

REFERENCES

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