Social aspects of new media technologies

Under the Uses and Gratification theory, it was interesting to note the two dominant styles of watching TV: a) ritualized viewing which is habitual and implies frequent consumption and b) instrumental viewing which is highly selective and purposeful.
It seems to me the plethora of choices on cable networks and the convenience of remote control has probably put more people in the instrumental viewer category. But I’m not sure if the frequent consumption has been cut back. I think more choices mean more TV.

Also noteworthy, was the research (page 467) on the impact of cable services on presumably entrenched news viewing habits. The study showed that most people who regularly watched local news identified with community and issues and paid scant attention to news on larger networks like CNN/NBC. But ironically, they always turned to these big networks during breaking new coverage. I guess, the logic might be that viewers instinctively know that a local station/newspaper has less resources/staff to cover bigger events and therefore the coverage may not be as comprehensive. I think the only way the small guys can keep the viewers engaged is by offering some local angle/report on the larger issue at hand.