Nielsen and Arbitron team up to tells us what Republicans and what Democrats like to view on cable TV
Scarborough Research, the leading local media and market research firm for identifying the shopping, media and lifestyle patterns of adults in the United States, released an analysis of the political affiliation of viewers of various cable television networks. The analysis, which ranks cable networks based on the concentration of self- identified Democrats, Republicans, and Independents among their viewers, was released today as part of The Cable Show taking place at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas. This type of analysis is also available to other media measured by Scarborough.
The analysis found that the networks with the highest percentage of Democrats among their viewers include BET (Democrats are 78 percent more likely than the average consumer to watch this cable channel), SoapNet (29 percent more likely to watch) and Lifetime/Lifetime Movie Channel (27 percent more likely to watch). As for cable news networks, CNN is heavily skewed Democratic, as Democrats are 23 percent more likely to watch this channel. In contrast, the networks that skewed most heavily Republican are FOX News (Republicans are 42 percent more likely than the average consumer to watch FOX News), The Golf Channel (31 percent more likely to watch) and Speed Channel (22 percent more likely to watch). The highest concentration of Independents were found among viewers of The N (Independents are 44 percent more likely than the average consumer to watch The N), G4 (38 percent more likely to watch) and Fuse (28 percent more likely to watch). In the cable news category, MSNBC is most heavily skewed Independent, as Independents are 22 percent more likely to watch this channel.
"In the cable industry, major cable networks - or those that are common to the majority of basic cable systems - will reach a high percentage of adults regardless of political affiliation. However, the political make-up of a network's viewership creates unique opportunities to target Democrats, Republicans and Independents," said Carol Edwards, vice president, cable services, Scarborough Research and Arbitron Inc. "Additionally, networks should consider their whole political story - from appeal across political parties to voter behaviors. As the 2008 campaigns heat up, this type of analysis is useful for anyone involved in the planning, buying and selling of cable advertising."
The demographic and lifestyle profiles of each political party are aligned with the profile of each network. For example, Democrats are 70 percent more likely than the average consumer to be African-American and 12 percent more likely to be female. Therefore, it makes sense that Democrats would be more likely to watch BET, which is an African-American focused network, and Lifetime/Lifetime Movie Network, which are women-oriented. Similarly, Republicans are five percent more likely than the average consumer to be male, 43 percent more likely to enjoy golf as a leisure activity, and 19 percent more likely to be NASCAR fans - hence why The Golf Channel, and Speed Channel may have high concentrations of Republicans. Independents are five percent more likely to be ages 18-34 and seven percent more likely to be single. Similarly, viewers of The N are 78 percent more likely to be single; G4 viewers are 64 percent more likely to be ages 18-34, and Fuse viewers are more than twice as likely to be in this age
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