Dimensionality of TV-news exposure: mapping news viewing behavior with people-meter data

The goal of this study is to explore different facets of exposure to television news—from the regularity of exposure via viewing durations to deliberate news selection and avoidance behavior. Using Dutch people-meter data on the individual viewer level, nine different exposure measures are compared. Our results suggest that exposure to news entails a three-dimensional construct consisting of the amount of watching the news, modes of program selection, and the share of viewing news. In addition, the ability of different aspects of news exposure to be predicted by relevant viewer characteristics is assessed. The amount of exposure is most strongly and most consistently related to those characteristics. Implications for public opinion research are discussed.