Trends in program variety and the prime time access rule

Abstract
After surveying contemporary issues and evaluating earlier research, this study presents the results of an entropy‐based time series analysis of 1950 to 1982 network prime time program variety. Time series analysis applied to this model yielded no support for the general notion that program variety had gradually declined over time. It did appear that a single sharp decline in variety coincided with the introduction of the 1971 Prime Time Access Rule, and this decline has lingered.