“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” is the best TV platform to reach Democratic loyalists while ESPN’s “College Football Regular Season” series is tops for Republican conservatives, according to an analysis by Experian Simmons, the consumer research unit of credit report giant Experian.
Experian segmented the voter population into 10 groups, using five for the TV study: Super Democrats (somewhat/very liberal), Ultra Conservatives (56% of Republicans, social issue conservatives) and Mild Republicans (Republicans with liberal views on issues like abortion), as well as On the Fence Liberals and Green Traditionalists in the middle leaning left and right, respectively.
Behind Jon Stewart, Comedy Centrals’ “The Colbert Report,” NBC’s “30 Rock,” Showtime’s “Shameless,” ABC’s “Modern Family,” HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” Lifetime’s “Project Runway,” NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” and “Parks and Recreation,” and E!’s “The Soup” rounded out the top 10.
The study looked at cable and broadcast TV shows with the highest concentration of viewers from each segment.
“Candidates, political organizations, and even traditional advertisers trying to connect with any of these voting segments would be wise to consider advertising on the programs listed [in the study],” wrote John Fetto, senior marketing manager for Experian Simmons, in releasing the tallies.
For the top conservatives, the top 10 includes PBS’ “Antiques Roadshow,” NBC’s “Today with Kathy Lee & Hoda,” ESPN’s college football series, ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” CBS’ “NCIS,” CBS’ “Undercover Boss,” CBS’ “Hawaii 5-0,” syndicated “Wheel of Fortune” and ABC’s “Saturday Night College Football.”
The so-called Mild Republicans tune in the most to CBS’ sitcom “Rules of Engagement,” with three Discovery Channel shows in the top 10, including “Sons of Guns” (2), “Gold Rush” (7) and “Deadliest Catch” (8).
On the Fence Liberals flocked to BBC America’s “The Graham Norton Show,” followed by Adult Swim’s “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.” The right-leaning Green Traditionalists tuned in the most to TRUTV’s “Lizard Lick Towing” and TLC’s “Extreme Couponing.”