Watching television today. A comparative survey of Italian and American students’ habits in front of television

This article is the result of a comparative survey focusing on television consumption among Italian and American university students. The research aimed to investigate their media habits mostly in relation to the experiences, practices and meanings associated with the consumption of television content. Our results show that next to traditional television broadcasting, the multiplication of screens and its hybridization with the web contribute to the enhancement and expansion of the television-viewing experience. Television consumption – and the meanings associated with it – depends on a set of interdependent variables: availability and access to technology, contexts and settings, practices and habits, and symbolic forms (content and genre). By focusing on television drama consumption, we attempt to demonstrate that watching television today is a complex experience encompassing a variety of activities, devices and content, as well as various forms of television. Consequently, watching television takes on different meanings according to the technological and cultural contexts of viewing.