Earlier this week, I wrote about how conservative political junkies have become trapped in a political echo chamber that marginalizes them. A left-wing echo chamber exists as well (another day and another article).
Regular Americans are also split in terms of their political preferences, of course, and it reflects sometimes in weird ways. According to an analysis from the DVR company TiVo, supporters of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have different preferences for entertainment shows as well. Might it be a televised version of the gender gap?
According to the TiVo data, Democrats seem glued to MSNBC which presented 4 of the top 5 cable programs that future Clinton voters preferred (The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, The Rachel Maddow Show, With All Due Respect, and All In With Chris Hayes).
On the broadcast side, the top shows favored by Democrats all involved female stars: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Good Wife, The Mysteries of Laura, Madam Secretary, and Telenovela. The top show for Democrats on cable flipped the script but not the demographic: BET’s Real Husbands of Hollywood.
Republicans, meanwhile, have a strong preference for broadcast shows about crime. Their top five programs were The Mysteries of Laura, NCIS, NCIS: New Orleans, Limitless, and Rosewood. The strong GOP preference wasn’t enough to save Limitless though as the series has been formally cancelled by CBS.
On the cable side, Republicans preferred a more mixed selection of shows with a seeming preference for home improvement programs. The DIY Network’s Rehab Addict: Detroit was their second-favorite popular program while the Cooking Channel’s Restaurant: Impossible ranked fourth. Rounding out the Republican cable top five were Most Haunted at #1 and Fox News Sunday at #5.
An infographic of the findings is below.
Hat tip: Aaron Duncan.
