Research: Impact of US political attitudes on TV viewing
October 29, 2024
The results of a joint study between Hub Entertainment Research and the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) fielded as part of Hub’s annual Decoding The Default survey found significant differences between liberals and conservatives in which entertainment TV shows they find appealing.
Study highlights include:
The TV viewing audience is almost equally split between liberals and conservatives.
Almost equal numbers of viewers described themselves as liberal or conservative. Three in ten reported themselves as ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ conservative, while a nearly identical 29 per cent said they were ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ liberal. The plurality of TV viewers however (41 per cent) say they are ‘moderate’.
Long-running shows topped the list of most likeable.
The study included a select list of programmes chosen to represent various genres and viewing sources. Among all viewers, the list of most-liked shows was topped by Friends, Saturday Night Live and NCIS, followed by Prime Video’s hit series Fallout. Only Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Love Is Blind had likeability scores below 50 per cent.
Strong characters and relationships drove the likeability of shows that appeal to both liberals and conservatives
Friends, Fallout, NCIS and Suits held equal appeal to viewers on both sides of the ideological spectrum. In directed questioning, many viewers pointed to the strong, relatable characters and the relationship chemistry as the reasons the shows are so likeable.
Shows that overtly feature political content and take a specific POV have strong liberal skew.
Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Saturday Night Live, two shows that feature a political satire and poke fun at politicians had the most skewed likeability scores, with liberals much more positive than conservatives. Viewers who did not like these shows considered them too slanted and “woke.”
The urban-based public school comedy Abbott Elementary was the other show whose appeal was significantly greater among liberals than conservatives.
Game of Thrones, Ted Lasso and Bridgerton had significant but smaller liberal skews on likeability.
Strong relationships and characters were the hallmark of shows with conservative appeal.
Yellowstone and Love Is Blind were the two shows tested that held greater appeal for conservative viewers. Yellowstone stood out to respondents for its strong lead character and its family relationships.
Entertainment TV can be polarising in today’s political climate
Of the twelve entertainment shows tested in this study, eight had partisan skews in likeability. Although two of the programmes are characterised by political satire, the remaining six had no overt political content.
The results of this study show viewers on the right and left of the political divide are not only separated by ideological differences, but the polarisation can also extend to entertainment as well.
“Although several of the most popular TV series hold equal appeal across the political spectrum, these results suggest many entertainment shows have differential appeal for liberals and conservatives,” said Mark Loughney, Hub Research Senior Consultant. “Appealing characters and strong relationships form the foundation for popular series among all viewers. But content creators aiming for wide appeal should also consider whether their programs contain implicit biases against viewers on the political right or left. In addition to considering potential demographic skews, creators should also consider the political values of their target audience.”
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