Americana: Guess What All the Eskimos Are Doing Tonight?

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While New Yorkers and San Franciscans are watching The Six Million Dollar Man, what are the natives of such Alaskan outposts as Kipnuk and Mekoryuk doing? They too are watching The Six Million Dollar Man. This is one of the preliminary findings of the state-funded $1.5 million experiment that for seven months has been bringing nine hours of TV a day to 23 rural Alaskan villages via satellite.

The state is trying to measure TV's impact on these cultures. So far, the Eskimos and Indians are reacting like everybody else; they enjoy the same shows as the rest of the U.S.: The Bionic Woman, Hawaii Five-0, Charlie's Angels. Their least favorite program is a report on the legislature called Capital 77. Another disturbing sign: attendance at town council and school board meetings has fallen off dramatically.