Dystynkcja na szklanym ekranie? Telewizja, praktyki odbiorcze a struktura społeczna
Distinction on the TV Screen? Television, Viewing Practices and Social Structure

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the respects in which television operates as the site for practices of distinction. It raises a question to what extent our television tastes and practices correspond to the positions we occupy in the social structure? Television can be framed as mass as well as popular culture, but both approaches seem to share an underlying assumption that television viewing practices are losing their grounding in social stratification. The paper refers to current debate on the relevance of social classes to a description of present social life. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data relating to preferred TV-programmes and genres, time spent on watching television and habits accompanying it, it is argued that social position remains an important factor explaining the variability of viewing practices. A closer analysis reveals that the amount of television viewing depends not only on social position and age but also on an access to social networks/capital, suggesting that television may compensate for deficiencies in social contacts. Additionally, the choice of programs and TV genres reveals different class-based dispositions and orientations. Downscale audiences seek “realistic”, emotional TV fare and treat television as a companionship (television structures their everyday life) while upscale users of the media are more culturally and instrumentally oriented. The results support the contention that social background of viewers remains linked to cultural practices, even if the practices under study are “ordinary” and take place in private environment.

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