THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON TELEVISION VIEWERSHIP IN OVUM, YENEGOA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, BAYELSA STATE

This study focuses on the impact of social media on television viewership in Yenagoa Local Government of Bayelsa State. The study answered questions like, What is the level of social media users and television viewers? and What are the reasons for the preference for either social media and television? Using a structured and opened questionnaire to collect information from the 300 respondents used for the study, the population of the study was 18542, Thus, taro Yamane Statistical formula was used for calculating the sample size. simple random sampling technique was adopted to get the respondents. The data is analyzed at various level using frequency and percentages, with tables. Data were coded and analyzed using the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS). This study adopted primary source of data to deduce findings through the use of a structured questionnaire. Several findings were made which shows that the Social media users level is higher that that of Television users Majority of respondents used it more for information and entertainment, Because of it has more content and it increases broadcast audience. This revealed that the public preferred the social media as the source of information and entertainment. It also revealed that social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and the likes increases broadcast audience, television programmes are now more appealing and more active as they tend to allow television audience to comment on their programmes on social media. The study was backed up with Uses and gratification theory by Karz and Blumler 1974 which emphasizes the functions and consequences of social media use as a means to enhance explanation and understanding of mass communication influence. Media Dependency Theory by Sandra Ball-Rokeach and Melvin DeFleur 1976 that focus on the effects of social media on the individuals and Agenda - Setting Theory by Max McCombs and Donald Shaw 1968 which describes the ability of the news media to influence the importance placed on the topic of the public agenda. Both primary and secondary data where used to undergo this study.