This study focuses on the influence of foreign television on year two students in the department of Theatre and Film Studies, University of Port Harcourt, as a representation of Nigerian youths. It probed the influence foreign Television has on the lives of Nigerian youths on a lot of things especially in the dance and dressing patterns the youths showcase in recent times. The study was anchored on the Cultivation theory and Social cognitive theory. Using the survey method, and questionnaire as instrument; a total of 188 valid responses were collected out of 200 which were given out to the year two students in the department of Theatre and Film Studies, University of Port Harcourt. The findings revealed that foreign television programmes influenced the style of dressing of Nigerian youths (42%), dancing styles (56.9%), fashion and dress patterns (43.6%) and sexual orientation (51%) This study has concluded that the high exposure of Nigerian youths to foreign television programmes in an unrestricted and unsupervised manner can be linked to the popularity and availability of cable TV in almost every home today. It is therefore recommended that the youths should be guided properly on what they watch so as to guide their decision making. Also, indigenous producers should strive to be more creative and original in their production to increase viewership.

Keywords foreign television, Influence, dressing/fashion, Dance style, Sexual orientation, Nigerian Youths.

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 1

1.1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM 2

1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 4

1.4 METHODOLOGY 4

1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 5

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 5

1.7 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 6