Media Diet Plan: Analyzing What Media Serves and What's Needed

Abstract

This study examines the diversification of television content and the diet plan media channels are providing for viewership in terms of genre division, content variety, and framing. The study based on mixed-method research in which quantitative part includes genre-wise content shared on major Pakistani television channels during the year 2019 with the sub-genre division of each, whereas the qualitative part includes interviews of media personnel to find out content approaches. The outcome of research gives a clear picture of imbalanced content framing in terms of pyramid. The study highlights that drama content, categorized as Junk media, constitutes the majority share, while the news genre falls under general media with a significant market share. In contrast, media for growth ranks up to the 20th position, and media for practice, including the Kids genre, holds a minimal market share. The findings underscore a noteworthy pattern: the current media content structure resembles a reciprocal media diet pyramid, where a considerable portion corresponds to Junk media—a trend contrary to the expected pyramid model.