TV that Red Staters Like. TV that Blue Staters Like.

Entertainment Weekly just released a study of what TV appeals to confirmed Republicans vs. confirmed Democrats.  Here's a brief digest of their findings.

In the findings, “sarcastic” media-savvy comedies and morally murky antiheroes tend to draw Dems. While serious work-centered shows (both reality shows and stylized scripted procedurals), along with reality competitions, tend to draw conservatives.

Focusing on well-known cable and broadcast original entertainment series (rather than, say, sports, music, news, repeats), here’s who wins the 2011 prime-time primaries:

LIBERAL-DEMOCRAT FAVORITES:

• The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report (Comedy Central): As you might expect.
  
  
• 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation (NBC): Literate media-savvy comedies score high among Dems in general, notes Experian-Simmons senior marketing manager John Fetto. “Sarcastic humor is always a hook for them,” he adds.
  
  
• The View (ABC): Shows that skew female tend to do better among Dems, while male-friendly shows tend to do perform higher among Republicans.
  
  
• Glee (Fox)
  
  
• Modern Family (ABC): Last year, the progressive Glee and Modern Family scored surprisingly strong among both political leanings. Among conservatives this year, the shows still do fairly well, but have dropped out of their top ranks.
  
  
• It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX)
  
  
• Treme (HBO): GOP Kryptonite. Not only a Dem favorite, but so unpopular among Republicans that the report scores the show with a “*” because not enough conservatives in the study group had actually watched it.
  
  
• Cougar Town (ABC)
  
  
• The Late Show With David Letterman and The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson (CBS): Dems favor late-night programming, with one big exception that we’ll see below.

Also in the mix: The Soup (E!), Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Adult Swim), Raising Hope (Fox), Saturday Night Live (NBC), The Office (NBC), Project Runway (Lifetime), Shameless (Showtime), Parenthood (NBC), Conan (TBS).

CONSERVATIVE-REPUBLICAN FAVORITES:

• Swamp Loggers (Discovery) and Top Shot (History): Gritty documentary-style work-related reality shows on cable index really strongly with conservative Republicans. Swamp Loggers is particularly polarizing.
  
  
• The Bachelor (ABC): They also tend to gravitate toward broadcast reality competition shows.
  
  
• Castle (ABC): Ranks fairly high among Dems, too.
  
  
• Mythbusters (Discovery)
  
  
• Only in America With Larry the Cable Guy, American Pickers, Pawn Stars, Swamp People (History): If you’re a Republican candidate looking to raise money, put ads on History.
  
  
• The Middle (ABC): Does well among libs, too.
  
  
• The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (NBC): “Did you hear about this? Yeah, this is true: Jay Leno is the late-night choice among conservatives… “
  
  
• The Biggest Loser (NBC)
  
  
• Hawaii Five-O, NCIS, The Mentalist (CBS): Popular crime dramas — except the left-wing Law & Order franchise — tend to draw a conservative crowd.

Also: Dancing With the Stars results show (ABC), Man vs. Wild (Discovery), Auction Kings (Discovery), Wheel of Fortune (syndi), Top Gear (BBC America).

 

Back to Dave: So, clearly, this isn't a shocker.  But it does point out how difficult it is for these two world views to talk together.  Clarity vs. irony, for instance, is a difficult bridge to cross.  Any observations about EW's findings?

Comments

[Dan Mitchell]

I wish that I could call "shenanigans" on EW, but one of those lists basically looks like my TiVo schedule!

[Prashant]

I have never seen the vast majority of those shows, so I will withhold comment on the list in general. But I am surprised Treme ranked highly with anyone. I consider The Wire the epitome of television in my lifetime, and couldn't wait for Treme, but I quit after one season because I thought it was a preachy formulaic show full of thoroughly unlikeable characters. I could watch the Wendell Pierce bits, but the rest bored me. Did The Wire also rank highly with Dems & not Republicans?

The Letterman vs Leno split doesn't surprise. Letterman has always been more sardonic in style.

I'm currently working through season 4 of Breaking Bad (aside: great show!!) and I wonder which side would like that one more...

[Jeff]

Interestingly, I enjoy Jon Stewart and Colbert, but find that it's kind of toxic for me to watch them. I get so critical and angry and end living out of a sarcastic place more than I want to.

[Vinceation]

Yes, not shocking, but fascinating nonetheless - a great indicator of differing worldviews. I like your summary of "clarity vs. irony"... that is a hard bridge to cross.
I think an equally fascinating study would be: TV that white people like; TV that black people like; TV that Latino people like; etc. In my world, inter-racial conversation often leads to caverns just as massive as the Liberal-Conservative one, with just as hard-to-cross bridges.

Anyone read Plueddeman's stuff on cross-cultural leadership? He offers 4 (I think) spectrums through which one can understand differences in cultural values, with the hope that that understanding can make one more effective at leading very different people at the same time with an integrated message.
It strikes me that in today's pluralistic, polarized America all leadership is cross-cultural leadership, whether due to the liberal/conservative divide, the coastal/heartland divide, or racial divides.

[Doug]

I can't offer anything insightful other than my own behavior, as a staunch bipartisan with a TiVo and who missing nothing, yet watches not-so-much TV:

BLUE SHOWS:
3 total, 1.5 hours

RED SHOWS:
2 total, 2 hours

Don't know where NHL Hockey fits, but it would be my tie-breaker if you had to guess where I land. Also wondering where are PBS staples NOVA and Scientific American?

[Brent]

Perhaps the thing most insightful has to do with those comedies...I find NBC's Community, 30 Rock, The Office, and Parks and Rec to be just about the funniest things TV has ever seen (esp Community...Modern family is also very good). Other differences might simply have to do with taste or slight cultural differences or even political views, but why should we have such different sense of humors? One's sense of humor is pretty fundamental to who they are and so much of communication depends on humor...seems like the area that is most problematic to me.

Btw, some of the best shows on TV are not listed here: FOX's House and Fringe (for network) and AMC's 'The Walking Dead' and Mad Men as well as FX's Justified (and even Sons of Anarchy, though it was a better show when it was called The Sopranos). I wonder how these sorts of high-octane, character-driven dramas do (or sci fi shows like Fringe)?

Also, Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia is on my list of 'Things I will Never Understand.' After watching an ep, I feel like someone has just yelled horrible things at me for half an hour.