ABSTRACT
Since the introduction of the VCR into the United States in the 1970s, media critics and social analysts have disagreed over its potential impact on Americans’ leisure time. Predicting a saturation level of 10%–14% of U. S. homes, Agostino, Terry, and Johnson (1980) concluded that VCR use was “unimaginative” and conditioned by audiences’ broadcast viewing habits. They predicted that VCR penetration would be limited to upscale households and used to supplement their already existing media technologies. Similarly, Broadcasting magazine in 1981 forecast a minimum penetration of 25% by 1990. In an October 1988 issue of Time magazine, however, Richard Zoglin indicated that VCRs are now present in over 60% of American households, making it the most quickly disseminated new communications technology in history (Levy, 1987).
