Televangelism in Zambia : an application of the uses and gratifications theory
This thesis investigated the uses and gratifications that people get from watching religious programmes on the national television, Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC). It investigated the preferences of the audience regarding religious programmes and also the social, economic, religious, and demographic characteristics of the audience. The study focussed on the programmes aired on ZNBC since the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation in 1993 up to the year 2000. The data for this study was collected in three cities and towns; Lusaka, Mazabuka, and Ndola, using a four - paged questionnaire. Findings of this study suggest that the Zambian televangelism audience uses religious programmes both for religious and non - religious reasons. This shows that the audience makes choices for the satisfaction they want to derive from the religious programmes, depending on their needs. The audience therefore plays an active role in determining how they will be influenced by media content. Among the important characteristics of the profile of the Zambian audience are age, sex, marital status, economic and educational level and denomination. These features sometimes affect the frequency, format of programmes watched and the uses and gratifications sought from the religious programmes by individuals. This study was in many respects a confirmation of the findings of other researchers in the Uses and Gratifications (U and G) theoretical tradition.
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