[lbo-talk] Democrats Watch More Television than Republicans

Yoshie Furuhashi furuhashi.1 at osu.edu
Thu Dec 9 16:01:42 PST 2004



>[lbo-talk] Why Jews Hate Republicans, Part XVIV
>Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
>Thu Dec 9 12:36:42 PST 2004
>
>Carrol Cox wrote:
>
>>A very small part of the u.s. public ever watches Fox news.
>
>So it doesn't matter?

It would matter a lot if we had money to buy TV and other expensive ads, which we don't. Those who have money would think deeply about how much to spend on which programs on which media (broadcast TV, cable, talk radio, etc.).

Surprising as it may seem to some, Democrats watch more television than Republicans: "[a]fter the 2000 presidential campaign, strategists for President Bush came to a startling realization: Democrats watch more television than Republicans"; and "[d]uring the week, Republicans switch off the tube earlier than Democrats do." Therefore, the Bush campaign "alter[ed] its media-buying strategy. In 2000, the campaign spent 95 percent of its media budget on network television; this year, that dropped to 70 percent"; and "[t]he campaign spent no money on national cable channels in 2000; this year it spent $20 million. It spent very little on radio in 2000; this year it spent $12 million, much of it going to religious, talk and country music programming."

As for the content, here are some trivia: "The channels with the highest proportion of Democrats were Court TV and the Game Show Network; for Republicans, Speedvision and the Golf Channel"; and "Republicans who stay up are more likely to tune in to Jay Leno, while Democrats flock to David Letterman."

Unexpectedly, "[o]ne of the shows most popular with Republicans, especially Republican women ages 18 to 34, turned out to be 'Will & Grace,' the sitcom about gay life in New York. As a result, while Mr. Bush was shoring up his conservative credentials by supporting a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage, his advertising team was buying time on a program that celebrates gay culture," so "[t]he Bush team broadcast commercials 473 times on 'Will & Grace' in markets across the country from Jan. 1 to Nov. 2, according to the Wisconsin project. (The Kerry campaign broadcast commercials 859 times on the show.)."

Aside from TV-viewing habits, other differences include these tidbits: "the data showed that Democrats were more likely to go to the movies than Republicans, so they dropped that idea. But it also showed that health clubs were a good way to reach Republicans and swing voters ages 18 to 34. So the Bush campaign bought time on a cable channel that goes into health clubs across the country."

Source: Katharine Q. Seelye, "How to Sell a Candidate to a Porsche-Driving, Leno-Loving Nascar Fan," <http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/06/politics/06strategy.html>, December 6, 2004 -- Yoshie

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