The Jordanian public’s uses of television programs live broadcast on Facebook pages and the gratifications received

Abstract

Objectives: The study aimed to identify the Jordanian public’s uses of TV programs that are broadcast on Facebook pages and to identify the effects resulting from such uses and the gratifications received.

Methods: This is a descriptive study that used the survey method. The questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 420 randomly selected individuals, and the gratification levels were classified according to the following categories: low with a means of 1-1.67, medium with a means of 1.68-2.34, and high with a means of 2.35-3.

Results: The study concluded that the percentage of Jordanian viewers of TV programs through the feature of live broadcasting on Facebook pages was 47.1% of the sample. In addition, the results showed that the extent of the cognitive, behavioral and emotional effects of viewing television programs broadcast on Facebook pages by the Jordanian public reached a medium level (with a means of 1.96 and standard deviation of 0.62). The results also showed that the gratifications received by the Jordanian public from watching TV programs that are broadcast on Facebook pages reached a medium level (with a means of 2.02 and standard deviation of 0.66).

Conclusions: It was noted that the effects resulting from the Jordanian public’s viewing of television programs via the live broadcast feature were moderate. Therefore, the study recommended that the Jordanian Media Commission should keep pace with the rapid developments of the live broadcasting feature on Facebook pages and employ it to serve the TV channels and contribute to the spread of their programs. It should also encourage the channels to broadcast their various TV programs through their Facebook pages in order to meet all the needs of the audience and increase the effects of those programs on them.