Two studies from the period document the dramatic changes that television brought to children’s allocation of time. First, Maccoby (1951) surveyed 622 children in Boston in 1950 and 1951 and matched children with and without television by age, sex, and socioeconomic status. The study found that radio lis- tening, movie watching, and reading were substantially lower in the television group, but also that total media time was greater by approximately an hour and a half per day. 10 The television group went to bed almost half an hour later and spent less time on homework and active play. The second study, conducted in 1959, surveyed children in two similar towns in.
