UTILISATION OF VIEW POINT PROGRAMME OF RHYTHM 93.7 FM FOR OPINION FORMATION AMONG PORT HARCOURT RESIDENTS

Abstract

The study investigated the Utilisation of View Point programme of Rhythm 93.7 FM for opinion formation among Port Harcourt residents. The objectives of the study were to: find out the opinions of Port Harcourt residents after exposure to the View Point programme on 93.7 FM; find out the level of effectiveness of the View Point programme of 93.7 FM on Port Harcourt residents and investigate the factors that hinder opinion formation of Port Harcourt residents after exposure to View Point Programmes of 93.7FM on Port Harcourt residents. The study was hinged on development media and public sphere theories. It adopted a survey research design with a total of 7, 376, 800 using the Taro Yamane sample size formula to arrive at 400 as the sample size. The study employed a multi-stage sampling technique and used a questionnaire as the instrument for data collection. The results of the study revealed that; the viewpoint programme of 93.7 FM contribute to the audience's knowledge of the realities in society and helps in the opinion formation of Port Harcourt residents and the attitude of View presenters, lack of time to tune and government policy were the major hindering opinion formation of Port Harcourt residents after exposure to View Point Programmes of 93.7 FM on Port Harcourt residents. It was recommended that presenters of View Point Rhythm 93.7 programme should only invite those that matter and not allow wrong views or opinions during the programme since the audience uses them to form opinions and the government should reduce revenues and taxes on the private establishment to allow competitions.