Walter Gantz
Biographic Data
| ID | 258675 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Walter Gantz |
| GIVEN NAMES | Walter |
| FAMILY NAME | Gantz |
| SIGNATURE | GANTZ W |
| AFFILIATIONS | Indiana University Bloomington |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 166 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 25 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1973 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
We’ve Come a Long Way Baby (Maybe)
Seizing on the growth of interest in and coverage of women’s basketball, this study assesses the attitudes, perceptions and viewing behaviors of males and females with expressed interest in men’s and women’s college and professional basketball. Surveying a sample of 808 USA adults participating in an ongoing national online panel for Qualtrics, this study examined similarities and differences in viewing behaviors, perceptions of production qualit…
Innoculating Fandom
Using a critical events theoretic analytic lens, we argue that the Covid-19 pandemic had the disruptive power to shake the foundation of sports fanship, much as it affected all aspects of contemporary life across the globe. We conducted a survey of 613 adults in the United States, all of whom self-identified as sports fans. Sports fanship avidity dipped during the height of the pandemic when games, matches, and seasons were cancelled or conducted…
What We Do When We Watch Live Sports
Using an active audience perspective, this study examines the wide-ranging in-person and second-screen behaviors that occur while viewing live sports. A national sample of participants ( N = 630) was surveyed about their live sports viewing behaviors while watching a normal game, a close game, and one where the outcome was clear. Viewers concurrently engaged in a variety of game-related and unrelated activities, many involving additional screens …
Sports Fanship Changes Across the Lifespan
Using two studies and two theoretical perspectives—socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) and social identity theory—this article examines the intensity of sports fanship across the adult lifespan. It is proposed that as adults age, emotional well-being increases, negative affect decreases, life satisfaction is enhanced, and self-identity is less dependent on group affiliation. All of these are likely to diminish the importance of sports fanship…
The Role of Emotion Regulation and Age in Experiencing Mediated Sports
Recent research indicates that sports fanship decreases with age. Socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) posits that older adults, with time limited, shift their focus on positive experiences. Entertainment media choices reflect this proactive emotion regulation strategy. This study applied that perspective to mediated sports content, itself characterized by emotional intensity and unknown outcomes. Using an online survey containing an experimen…
Unpacking What It Means to Be—or Not Be—A Fan
Sports fanship is a multidimensional concept. Fans are fans for a variety of reasons and show their fanship in an assortment of ways. In many studies, sports fanship is based on predetermined categories and closed-ended questions set by researchers. Such categories and questions may include certain types of fans while omitting others. This study assessed the extent to which closed-ended categorizations align with fans’ views of their own fanship.…
Sports on Traditional and Newer Digital Media
In this essay, we examine a series of platform, content, reception, and lifestyle factors likely to shape sports fans’ use of traditional and newer digital media. Because of signal fidelity, screen size, presence, and the rights to air top-tier sports events, television is likely to remain the medium of choice for fans ready to watch live sports. Fans will use newer media, with their interactive options and affordance of agency to supplement and …
Reflections on Communication and Sport
In this essay, Walter Gantz reflects on the importance of communication and sport and the evolution of his research on fanship and social relationships. Cutting across two overlapping dimensions—physical location and technology—this essay characterizes key ways that sports fanship may be integrally linked with meaningful relationships. Sports viewing at home is often a shared activity, one that is far more likely to maintain or enhance existing r…
Disruptive and Cooperative Interruptions in Prime-Time Television Fiction
Speech characteristics of male and female characters in fictional television have received only scant attention in media content research. A content analysis of prime-time television revealed that male characters were more likely to initiate disruptive interruptions than female characters whereas female characters were more likely to use cooperative interruptions than male characters. Such differences, however, were moderated by status differenti…
Televised Sports and Marital Relationships
This paper describes the role of televised sports in married life. It documents how adults integrate televised sports into their relationship with their spouse and evaluate its impact on that relationship. Telephone interviews were conducted with 399 married adults residing in San Francisco and Indianapolis. Respondents were asked about their own TV sports viewing behaviors as well as those of their spouse. Televised sports appears to play a gene…
Fanship and the Television Sports Viewing Experience
Employing a uses and gratifications paradigm, we expected that audience experience with televised sports would vary on the basis of fanship, with fans having a qualitatively different, deeper, and more textured set of expectations and responses than nonfans. Fans were expected to respond in similar ways, regardless of gender. Telephone interviews were completed with 707 adults residing in Los Angeles and Indianapolis. Fanship was operationalized …
Assessing the Football Widow Hypothesis
Using a coorientation perspective, this study examined the extent to which relational partners share behaviors and vantage points with regard to their use of televised sports. It also assessed the role that televised sports programming played in those relationships. Telephone interviews were conducted with 92 pairs of partners residing in two major cities, with the second partner interviewed immediately after the first. Coorientation measures (ag…
Children's Television Advertising in the Multichannel Environment
Dale Kunkel, Walter Gantz; Children's Television Advertising in the Multichannel Environment, Journal of Communication, Volume 42, Issue 3, 1 September 199
Men, women, and sports
This study examined gender differences in the audience experience with televised sports. Men and women were expected to approach, observe, and respond to sports programming in different ways. Telephone interviews were conducted with 400 adults residing in Los Angeles and 307 adults residing in Indianapolis. Gender differences were tested using covariate analyses controlling for demographic attributes, favorite sport, and interest in viewing telev…
News Diffusion of the Palme Assassination among Journalists in Iceland, Israel and the US
Journalists interviewed in Iceland, Israel and the US in the aftermath of the Palme assassination gave markedly different accounts of how they first heard of the tragedy. Radio was the predominant first source of diffusion in Iceland, personal contacts were most important in Israel, and in the US no first source predominated. Shock and astonishment were the sharpest initial reactions. Although the event occurred during the early evening in the US…
Diffusion of News About the Assassination of Olof Palme
This article, presenting telephone survey data gathered in Japan and the US, presents a cross system examination of the diffusion process. Because Japan and the US have highly developed and readily accessible news media, the authors anticipated that diffusion in both countries would be relatively rapid and extensive, occurring primarily through mediated channels of communication. Since the event also was seen as more salient in Japan, the authors…
Diffusion of a Proximate News Event
The Diffusion of News About the Attempted Reagan Assassination
Approaching Invisibility
Walter Gantz, Howard M. Gartenberg, Cindy K. Rainbow; Approaching Invisibility: The Portrayal of the Elderly in Magazine Advertisements, Journal of Communi
Why People Pass on News
Gratifications and expectations associated with Pop music among adolescents”
(1978). “Gratifications and expectations associated with Pop music among adolescents”. Popular Music and Society: Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 81-89
How Uses and Gratifications Affect Recall of Television News
While those who watch TV news primarily to gain information recall more than others, casual viewers recall more than those seeking diversion or both diversion and information
Television News and Political Socialization
Journal Article Television News and Political Socialization Get access CHARLES K. ATKIN, CHARLES K. ATKIN Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar WALTER GANTZ WALTER GANTZ Assistant Professor Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Public Opinion Quarterly, Volume 42, Issue 2, SUMMER 1978, Pages 183–194, https://doi.org/10.1086/268442 Published: 01 January 1978
The Impact of Salience and Altruism on Diffusion of News
News diffusion of the George Wallace shooting
Reactions to the Wallace shooting and awareness of it indicate that the role of interpersonal first sources of information was much greater than expected from previous studies. A second study supported the hypothesis that delays between the event and the time‐of‐interview account for the apparent lack of interpersonal influence in other studies, through the dissociation of source and content within the receiver
Fanship and the Television Sports Viewing Experience
Employing a uses and gratifications paradigm, we expected that audience experience with televised sports would vary on the basis of fanship, with fans having a qualitatively different, deeper, and more textured set of expectations and responses than nonfans. Fans were expected to respond in similar ways, regardless of gender. Telephone interviews were completed with 707 adults residing in Los Angeles and Indianapolis. Fanship was operationalized …
Television News and Political Socialization
Journal Article Television News and Political Socialization Get access CHARLES K. ATKIN, CHARLES K. ATKIN Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar WALTER GANTZ WALTER GANTZ Assistant Professor Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Public Opinion Quarterly, Volume 42, Issue 2, SUMMER 1978, Pages 183–194, https://doi.org/10.1086/268442 Published: 01 January 1978
How Uses and Gratifications Affect Recall of Television News
While those who watch TV news primarily to gain information recall more than others, casual viewers recall more than those seeking diversion or both diversion and information
Sports on Traditional and Newer Digital Media
In this essay, we examine a series of platform, content, reception, and lifestyle factors likely to shape sports fans’ use of traditional and newer digital media. Because of signal fidelity, screen size, presence, and the rights to air top-tier sports events, television is likely to remain the medium of choice for fans ready to watch live sports. Fans will use newer media, with their interactive options and affordance of agency to supplement and …
Reflections on Communication and Sport
In this essay, Walter Gantz reflects on the importance of communication and sport and the evolution of his research on fanship and social relationships. Cutting across two overlapping dimensions—physical location and technology—this essay characterizes key ways that sports fanship may be integrally linked with meaningful relationships. Sports viewing at home is often a shared activity, one that is far more likely to maintain or enhance existing r…
Televised Sports and Marital Relationships
This paper describes the role of televised sports in married life. It documents how adults integrate televised sports into their relationship with their spouse and evaluate its impact on that relationship. Telephone interviews were conducted with 399 married adults residing in San Francisco and Indianapolis. Respondents were asked about their own TV sports viewing behaviors as well as those of their spouse. Televised sports appears to play a gene…
The Impact of Salience and Altruism on Diffusion of News
Why People Pass on News
Gratifications and expectations associated with Pop music among adolescents”
(1978). “Gratifications and expectations associated with Pop music among adolescents”. Popular Music and Society: Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 81-89
Unpacking What It Means to Be—or Not Be—A Fan
Sports fanship is a multidimensional concept. Fans are fans for a variety of reasons and show their fanship in an assortment of ways. In many studies, sports fanship is based on predetermined categories and closed-ended questions set by researchers. Such categories and questions may include certain types of fans while omitting others. This study assessed the extent to which closed-ended categorizations align with fans’ views of their own fanship.…
News diffusion of the George Wallace shooting
Reactions to the Wallace shooting and awareness of it indicate that the role of interpersonal first sources of information was much greater than expected from previous studies. A second study supported the hypothesis that delays between the event and the time‐of‐interview account for the apparent lack of interpersonal influence in other studies, through the dissociation of source and content within the receiver
Sports Fanship Changes Across the Lifespan
Using two studies and two theoretical perspectives—socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) and social identity theory—this article examines the intensity of sports fanship across the adult lifespan. It is proposed that as adults age, emotional well-being increases, negative affect decreases, life satisfaction is enhanced, and self-identity is less dependent on group affiliation. All of these are likely to diminish the importance of sports fanship…
The Role of Emotion Regulation and Age in Experiencing Mediated Sports
Recent research indicates that sports fanship decreases with age. Socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) posits that older adults, with time limited, shift their focus on positive experiences. Entertainment media choices reflect this proactive emotion regulation strategy. This study applied that perspective to mediated sports content, itself characterized by emotional intensity and unknown outcomes. Using an online survey containing an experimen…
Assessing the Football Widow Hypothesis
Using a coorientation perspective, this study examined the extent to which relational partners share behaviors and vantage points with regard to their use of televised sports. It also assessed the role that televised sports programming played in those relationships. Telephone interviews were conducted with 92 pairs of partners residing in two major cities, with the second partner interviewed immediately after the first. Coorientation measures (ag…
Diffusion of News About the Assassination of Olof Palme
This article, presenting telephone survey data gathered in Japan and the US, presents a cross system examination of the diffusion process. Because Japan and the US have highly developed and readily accessible news media, the authors anticipated that diffusion in both countries would be relatively rapid and extensive, occurring primarily through mediated channels of communication. Since the event also was seen as more salient in Japan, the authors…
News diffusion of the George Wallace shooting
Reactions to the Wallace shooting and awareness of it indicate that the role of interpersonal first sources of information was much greater than expected from previous studies. A second study supported the hypothesis that delays between the event and the time‐of‐interview account for the apparent lack of interpersonal influence in other studies, through the dissociation of source and content within the receiver
The Impact of Salience and Altruism on Diffusion of News
Gratifications and expectations associated with Pop music among adolescents”
(1978). “Gratifications and expectations associated with Pop music among adolescents”. Popular Music and Society: Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 81-89
How Uses and Gratifications Affect Recall of Television News
While those who watch TV news primarily to gain information recall more than others, casual viewers recall more than those seeking diversion or both diversion and information
Television News and Political Socialization
Journal Article Television News and Political Socialization Get access CHARLES K. ATKIN, CHARLES K. ATKIN Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar WALTER GANTZ WALTER GANTZ Assistant Professor Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Public Opinion Quarterly, Volume 42, Issue 2, SUMMER 1978, Pages 183–194, https://doi.org/10.1086/268442 Published: 01 January 1978
Why People Pass on News
Approaching Invisibility
Walter Gantz, Howard M. Gartenberg, Cindy K. Rainbow; Approaching Invisibility: The Portrayal of the Elderly in Magazine Advertisements, Journal of Communi
The Diffusion of News About the Attempted Reagan Assassination
Diffusion of a Proximate News Event
News Diffusion of the Palme Assassination among Journalists in Iceland, Israel and the US
Journalists interviewed in Iceland, Israel and the US in the aftermath of the Palme assassination gave markedly different accounts of how they first heard of the tragedy. Radio was the predominant first source of diffusion in Iceland, personal contacts were most important in Israel, and in the US no first source predominated. Shock and astonishment were the sharpest initial reactions. Although the event occurred during the early evening in the US…
Diffusion of News About the Assassination of Olof Palme
This article, presenting telephone survey data gathered in Japan and the US, presents a cross system examination of the diffusion process. Because Japan and the US have highly developed and readily accessible news media, the authors anticipated that diffusion in both countries would be relatively rapid and extensive, occurring primarily through mediated channels of communication. Since the event also was seen as more salient in Japan, the authors…
Men, women, and sports
This study examined gender differences in the audience experience with televised sports. Men and women were expected to approach, observe, and respond to sports programming in different ways. Telephone interviews were conducted with 400 adults residing in Los Angeles and 307 adults residing in Indianapolis. Gender differences were tested using covariate analyses controlling for demographic attributes, favorite sport, and interest in viewing telev…
Children's Television Advertising in the Multichannel Environment
Dale Kunkel, Walter Gantz; Children's Television Advertising in the Multichannel Environment, Journal of Communication, Volume 42, Issue 3, 1 September 199
Televised Sports and Marital Relationships
This paper describes the role of televised sports in married life. It documents how adults integrate televised sports into their relationship with their spouse and evaluate its impact on that relationship. Telephone interviews were conducted with 399 married adults residing in San Francisco and Indianapolis. Respondents were asked about their own TV sports viewing behaviors as well as those of their spouse. Televised sports appears to play a gene…
Fanship and the Television Sports Viewing Experience
Employing a uses and gratifications paradigm, we expected that audience experience with televised sports would vary on the basis of fanship, with fans having a qualitatively different, deeper, and more textured set of expectations and responses than nonfans. Fans were expected to respond in similar ways, regardless of gender. Telephone interviews were completed with 707 adults residing in Los Angeles and Indianapolis. Fanship was operationalized …
Assessing the Football Widow Hypothesis
Using a coorientation perspective, this study examined the extent to which relational partners share behaviors and vantage points with regard to their use of televised sports. It also assessed the role that televised sports programming played in those relationships. Telephone interviews were conducted with 92 pairs of partners residing in two major cities, with the second partner interviewed immediately after the first. Coorientation measures (ag…
Disruptive and Cooperative Interruptions in Prime-Time Television Fiction
Speech characteristics of male and female characters in fictional television have received only scant attention in media content research. A content analysis of prime-time television revealed that male characters were more likely to initiate disruptive interruptions than female characters whereas female characters were more likely to use cooperative interruptions than male characters. Such differences, however, were moderated by status differenti…
Reflections on Communication and Sport
In this essay, Walter Gantz reflects on the importance of communication and sport and the evolution of his research on fanship and social relationships. Cutting across two overlapping dimensions—physical location and technology—this essay characterizes key ways that sports fanship may be integrally linked with meaningful relationships. Sports viewing at home is often a shared activity, one that is far more likely to maintain or enhance existing r…
Sports on Traditional and Newer Digital Media
In this essay, we examine a series of platform, content, reception, and lifestyle factors likely to shape sports fans’ use of traditional and newer digital media. Because of signal fidelity, screen size, presence, and the rights to air top-tier sports events, television is likely to remain the medium of choice for fans ready to watch live sports. Fans will use newer media, with their interactive options and affordance of agency to supplement and …
Unpacking What It Means to Be—or Not Be—A Fan
Sports fanship is a multidimensional concept. Fans are fans for a variety of reasons and show their fanship in an assortment of ways. In many studies, sports fanship is based on predetermined categories and closed-ended questions set by researchers. Such categories and questions may include certain types of fans while omitting others. This study assessed the extent to which closed-ended categorizations align with fans’ views of their own fanship.…
The Role of Emotion Regulation and Age in Experiencing Mediated Sports
Recent research indicates that sports fanship decreases with age. Socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) posits that older adults, with time limited, shift their focus on positive experiences. Entertainment media choices reflect this proactive emotion regulation strategy. This study applied that perspective to mediated sports content, itself characterized by emotional intensity and unknown outcomes. Using an online survey containing an experimen…
What We Do When We Watch Live Sports
Using an active audience perspective, this study examines the wide-ranging in-person and second-screen behaviors that occur while viewing live sports. A national sample of participants ( N = 630) was surveyed about their live sports viewing behaviors while watching a normal game, a close game, and one where the outcome was clear. Viewers concurrently engaged in a variety of game-related and unrelated activities, many involving additional screens …
Sports Fanship Changes Across the Lifespan
Using two studies and two theoretical perspectives—socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) and social identity theory—this article examines the intensity of sports fanship across the adult lifespan. It is proposed that as adults age, emotional well-being increases, negative affect decreases, life satisfaction is enhanced, and self-identity is less dependent on group affiliation. All of these are likely to diminish the importance of sports fanship…
Innoculating Fandom
Using a critical events theoretic analytic lens, we argue that the Covid-19 pandemic had the disruptive power to shake the foundation of sports fanship, much as it affected all aspects of contemporary life across the globe. We conducted a survey of 613 adults in the United States, all of whom self-identified as sports fans. Sports fanship avidity dipped during the height of the pandemic when games, matches, and seasons were cancelled or conducted…
We’ve Come a Long Way Baby (Maybe)
Seizing on the growth of interest in and coverage of women’s basketball, this study assesses the attitudes, perceptions and viewing behaviors of males and females with expressed interest in men’s and women’s college and professional basketball. Surveying a sample of 808 USA adults participating in an ongoing national online panel for Qualtrics, this study examined similarities and differences in viewing behaviors, perceptions of production qualit…
Psychology (19 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Advertising (12 works) · Social Psychology (11 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Sports, Gender, and Society (9 works) · Business (8 works) · Computer Science (8 works) · Media studies (8 works) · Political science (8 works)