The partisan divide of cable news viewers.
By on Aug 17th, 2008 at 10:33 am
The partisan divide of cable news viewers.
A new Pew Research survey breaks down cable news network viewers by partisanship. CNN leads among Democrats, Fox leads Republicans, and MSNBC has the greatest percentage of independents:
CNN: 51% Democrats, 18% Republicans, 23% independents
MSNBC: 45% Democrats, 18% Republicans, 27% independents
Fox News: 33% Democrats, 39% Republicans, 22% independents
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No way in hell 1/3 of Dems are watching Faux, unless it’s just to keep an eye on the snake pit.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:42 amWhy would any democrat watch Faux news?
August 17th, 2008 at 10:46 amI find it most interesting that the repugs don’t show up as a majority for any of these three, not even for the blatant biased faux news.
Can these numbers be accurate?
If so, then it is proof that your typical repug supporter is uninformed and merely drinks the kool-aide that is offered by the criminal cabal in the white house.
No wonder most wingnuts are so misinformed and “fact-challenged”, they prefer to make up “facts” that fit their world view instead of finding out what is really happening and then deciding on what it means.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:46 amI figure those Dems were watching FOX Noise for the laughs.
I’ve blocked FOX Noise from my television set.
I really only watch CNN for Jack Cafferty (the file and his panel appearance at 6:30).
I don’t get MSNBC at all.
Besides, I get my news online. Far higher quality of journalism in here, and we have a chance to discuss it in here, unlike the one-way street of t.v. and radio where you just get to listen to some corporate owned talking heads bloviate about illegal immigration and gay marriage instead of real the issues.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:48 am33% of FOX viewers are Dems? Bullshit…. Are there really that many stupid Dems?…. oh….wait
August 17th, 2008 at 10:49 amCNN: 51% Democrats, 18% Republicans, 23% independents
MSNBC: 45% Democrats, 18% Republicans, 27% independents
Fox News: 33% Democrats, 39% Republicans, 22% independents
Amount of useful information available on all three(3) = Zilch
August 17th, 2008 at 10:49 amJoe, or maybe it’s that bush has driven so many republicans out of the party that they’ve inflated the numbers of independents and Dems. It would be interesting to see the actual numbers of views instead of the %s.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:50 amAnother Joe Says: No wonder most wingnuts are so misinformed and “fact-challenged”, they prefer to make up “facts” that fit their world view instead of finding out what is really happening and then deciding on what it means.
That is sooooo true. They believe what they wish to be true and then twist reality to fit into that mold to prove themselves correct. It’s also how ‘psychics’ and ‘astrologers’ manage to make a living off.
Personally, I think reality is far more interesting than the fairytales by which Conservtives live. Also hurts a whole lot less.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:52 am33% of Fox are democrats??? Do we have that many masochists in our party?
August 17th, 2008 at 10:52 amCNN is by far the best outlet for actual news and so I’m surprised that MSNBC gets the most independents.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:54 amI bet most Republicans watch their local noise channel, rather than the cable noise channels.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:55 amIt looks like Democrats watch FOX for the same reason they listen to Limbaugh – for entertainment. Also it appears even the Republicans don’t believe FOX news as much as FOX would have us to think. It’s a good sign the Independents are watching MSNBC.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:56 amhow any moral, decent person can watch the lying, wingnut “lunatic fringe’ Fox news is beyond me. maybe it’s the blonds in the sexy skirts that get the ratings up, because hopefully there isn’t that many ignorant, bigoted, hate filled Americans in the world.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:58 amCitizenGeek Says: CNN is by far the best outlet for actual news
Maybe CNN Headline News, but regular CNN is just as corporate-owned as the others, except for Jack Cafferty. I wasn’t home last night to watch it, but CNN held yet another faith based campaign forum last night. Hardly makes them a viable alternative to conservative noise channels (40% of Democrats are secular).
August 17th, 2008 at 10:59 amI bet most Republicans watch their local noise channel, rather than the cable noise channels.
Yes, much easier to play the “fear card” on your local residents.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:00 amFox, claiming they have the right to lie to their viewers and calling themselves “news” all in the same breath. Gawd bless america.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:02 amDieNowForPeace Says: Yes, much easier to play the “fear card” on your local residents.
And isolate them from the rest of the world, which clearly is depraved and corrupt and unworthy of mention (same argument the Soviets made for walling off East Germany from the decadent West).
August 17th, 2008 at 11:03 amI don’t watch any television news.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:10 amEven the local stuff has it’s own little slant to the right.
Gags me.
It’s also a little interesting to note that (from what I’ve seen) there is a lot of pro mcbush ads during the olympics.
If you get the majority of your NEWS from Cable TV, you probably are misinformed.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:14 amAfter David Schuster started his post faith forum commentary with how “intellectual” (uppity?) Obama sounded I had to check to make sure I was watching faux instead MSNBC. After feeling pretty good about how presidential Obama sounded I was shocked to hear all 3 MSNBC pundits praising McInsane to high “heaven”. MSNBC needs topay attention to the poll, maybe? I was a very disappointed viewer.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:15 amThe Pew Poll wants people to believe Fox News when they say they’re fair and balanced. See? The real poll numbers are mostly like close to this:
85% republicans, 4% Democrats, 11% Independents
August 17th, 2008 at 11:18 amNever watch Faux, don’t have MSNBC (thanks to Con-cast), CNN has turned to the right, only watch CNN for general topics to research here on the tubes. I watch the Sunday shows when I can get up early enough, but since I’ve been on night shift I haven’t much. I get most of my news from Air America and Nova M now.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:18 amunbelievable Says:
——————————————————————————–
Besides, I get my news online. Far higher quality of journalism in here, and we have a chance to discuss it in here, unlike the one-way street of t.v. and radio where you just get to listen to some corporate owned talking heads bloviate about illegal immigration and gay marriage instead of real the issues.
**I spend about 2 hours (or more!) getting new online every day. I really enjoy being able to read international news as well.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:20 amNone of these networks does an adequate job of keeping viewers informed, prefering to be little more than stenographers reporting the spin disseminated from the two major parties. They don’t even do a very good job of that. Republicans, because they have nothing of any value to offer voters, have been allowed to dominate the framework by delving into the Rovian type of personality based politics they excel at and “journalists lap it up because it requires virtually no effort to report.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
August 17th, 2008 at 11:21 amAnd the beat goes on Says: After feeling pretty good about how presidential Obama sounded I was shocked to hear all 3 MSNBC pundits praising McInsane to high “heaven”.
The corporartions that own these noise channels don’t care about anything but keeping Republicans in power, because they know that they won’t have to pay taxes under fascist rule.
I still am appalled that there was another faith forum of Presidential candidates sponsored by a supposed news organization in our supposedly secular country, and that it ultimately revealed that we have a choice of leadership between two men who hear voices…
August 17th, 2008 at 11:23 amAnd the beat goes on Says: **I spend about 2 hours (or more!) getting new online every day. I really enjoy being able to read international news as well.
Ditto. My personal vocabulary has even improved as a result of reading international news :)
These forums like TP also provide a connection among the masses that the Founding Fathers liked about the printing presses. They wanted us to talk to one another about the issues in order to be able to come up with the best new ideas for solving our problems and directing our government.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:27 amKay – I agree and actually believe these numbers are totally bogus.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:30 amKayInMaine:
August 17th, 2008 at 11:32 amI believe there was a different poll a few weeks back that said that 88% of Faux Noise viewers voted Republican. So I take this poll with a grain of salt. That said, the Faux Noise Democrats could be in places like Mississippi, Kentucky(which actually has far more registered Dems than Republicans .. go figure!!) and West Virginia. Places were they will vite for Democrats on a local level, but won’t on a national level.
I’ll put in a plug for NPR. There is really nothing to WATCH on TV News , unless you want to see Hurricans or Fires, etc.
Most talking heads can easily be Listened to.
In my opinion, NPR has the best on the Ground coverage available. In addition to talented Reporters, they can send out someone with just a tape recorder or cell phone…and therefore get to the story quicker and in more places.
I think BBC radio news is in the same category.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:40 amIs it just me? Or, does this nonsense not add up to 100%
August 17th, 2008 at 11:44 amBobwurst Says: “It would be interesting to see the actual numbers of views instead of the %s.”
The numbers, as given, do nothing more than prove what we have all known for years. Even the numbers of viewers will not add much unless they are for the same time period. In order for the numbers to be meaningful the viewers must be shown as a percentage of the total over a given time period.
Assuming,for the sake of argument, that all three channels share the viewing audience equally (33 1/3%) then the figures show:
Democrats——43%
Republicans—-25%
Independents—24%
Non-committed– 8%
Those figures will change as the percentage of the viewing audience for each of the three channels changes. That information is available but not really germane to this comment. Looking at these numbers one can see the relationship to earlier polls and the bushco. The 25% Republicans supports the inherent 25% of George WTF supporters. The unusually large percentages of Independents and Non-committed supports the theory given above that a large number of Republicans have flown the coop. Assuming again that the Independent and Non-committed votes will be equally divided we find that the Democrats (Obama) have 59% of the vote and the republicans have 41%. This supports what most projections by unbiased sources and polls have been projecting. Now, going back to a post yesterday about the pools being slanted in favor of the Republicans because the younger voters are ignored because of their technological expertise and preferences, we can assume that the majority of those voters do not watch any of the three channels. Again we can assume these young voters will vote for Obama.
Ergo, it is safe to predict, given the numbers posted that Obama will carry the election, assuming, unfortunately and naively a fair vote count, by at least 60 to 65%.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:45 amIn my experience, 50% of Republicans will claim to be “independent” when confronted with a choice which involves revealing potential partisan leanings. Nobody bothers to ask them what their past voting record was – what percentage of votes for Republican candidates versus Democratic candidates. It’s all done on the honor system and the Republicans are shameless, as they’ve demonstrated repeatedly over the past twenty years. Fox News’ percentage of Republican viewers should likely be increased by 11% and independents reduced to that same level. That would set Fox News’ viewership by Republicans at 50%, which is far more likely the true number for folks who vote reliably Republican.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:51 amunbelievable Says:
Ditto. My personal vocabulary has even improved as a result of reading international news :)
These forums like TP also provide a connection among the masses that the Founding Fathers liked about the printing presses. They wanted us to talk to one another about the issues in order to be able to come up with the best new ideas for solving our problems and directing our government.
**Plus we get to help “save trees!” I also am rather OTC about converting articles worthy of a reread to PDF and save for reading later. I am very concerned about all the talk of cyber-intel. I really don’t know how long we are going to have “free access.” Also, history seems to get rewritten more frequently in the past 7 or 8 years. Just sayin’…
August 17th, 2008 at 11:52 amWhats so funny is that these so called independents are really going to either vote Republican or Democrat. They know there is something wrong with their party, but because they don’t want to let the other guy win….they will vote for either party.
Don’t you just love it how personalities like Bill O’Reilly claim to be independent but then end up being cheer leaders for the Bush administration? What a bunch of crap, he just wants to appeal to the so called independents but in reality they are all Republican loyalists.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:52 amCNN and Fox have contempt for their liberal viewers. CNN has really gone down the tube in pandering to the right wing. CNN, at least may want to look at this information and consider not insulting us further. MSNBC has a less spotty reason.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:58 amLooking at the study it seems at least more and more democrats recognize Faux News for what it is.
In 2000 27% of Democrats and 26% of Republicans gave Faux News the highest credibility rating. Now the numbers are (a still depressing) 19% for Democrats and 34% for Republicans.
Overall most Republicans distrust all mainstream “librul” media (especially BBC) much more than Democrats with one obvious exception
August 17th, 2008 at 12:06 pmAnd the beat goes on Says: **Plus we get to help “save trees!” I also am rather OTC about converting articles worthy of a reread to PDF and save for reading later. I am very concerned about all the talk of cyber-intel. I really don’t know how long we are going to have “free access.” Also, history seems to get rewritten more frequently in the past 7 or 8 years. Just sayin’…
I’m all for saving trees! :)
I don’t expect it will remain free if another Republican Regime manages to steal the election in November.
I wish Al Gore hadn’t fallen out of love with politics. Could you imagine 8 years of him running the show? Sigh… Wishful thinking, I know. But, I still think he would have been the next head added to Mt. Rushmore.
August 17th, 2008 at 12:08 pmThat’s a good point. In the ‘04 election, Faux News viewers were the most monolthically Bush-voter block that was surveyed. Faux News viewers voted for Bush in greater percentages than even Republicans did. I think that may be the 88% you’re thinking of. If I recall correctly, 88% of Faux News viewers voted for Bush and only 84% of self-identified Republicans did.
August 17th, 2008 at 12:20 pmActually, I just did a quick Google, and discovered that my numbers were a little off — I had the 88% of Bush voters, but it appears that Republicans voted for Bush in greater percentages in ‘04. But Evangelicals, conservatives, Iraq war supporters, all those groups were more evenly divided than Faux viewers.
And it looks like it hasn’t changed. A recent Rasmussen poll found that 87% of Faux viewers plan to vote for McCain.
So the claim that a third of Faux viewers are Democrats seems absurd.
August 17th, 2008 at 12:33 pmI have a weak stomach – I cannot watch Faux Noise for more than a few moments at a time.
August 17th, 2008 at 12:36 pmSo where are the majority of republicans — listening to Lush Lintball?
August 17th, 2008 at 12:37 pmI think the majority of Republicans prefers to remain uninformed.
New information, after all, could challenge their long-held beliefs.
August 17th, 2008 at 12:41 pmBiased AM radio seems to be the happy place for most of the die hard republicans. After all on AM radio Liberals are responsible for all the countries problems, real men run the government and no uppity women or coloreds will run the country.
August 17th, 2008 at 12:43 pmralph the wonder llama Says:
New information, after all, could challenge their long-held beliefs.
_____________
Give it a rest, Ralphie, me boyo, uh, me llamayo… whatever…
We ALL know the Earth is flat, ‘kay?
August 17th, 2008 at 12:58 pmIs it worth pointing out that the most popular programs on FoxNews, aren’t news, but editorials?
From O’Reilly, to Hannity, to Rivera, to Ingraham -these people are not there to convey the news. What they do is to comment, and give us their opinion, unchallenged. Their viewers watch Fox not to be informed, but to reinforce their own opinions on world events.
Ask any faithful Fox viewer if those WMD were found in Iraq. I’d bet anything the answer will be yes.
Not only is FoxNews not fair and balanced, it’s not even news.
August 17th, 2008 at 1:02 pmMarie Says:
So where are the majority of republicans — listening to Lush Lintball?
No, most Republicans are listening to God. Through a mainline connection to the Almighty, they are given not just news but helpful advice, such as the benefits of squeezing the toothpaste tube from the bottom end, or why we shouldn’t be nice to Muslims.
August 17th, 2008 at 1:02 pmTo bad they don’t attach an intelligence test to these polls. I’d really enjoy that break down, though I wonder about the intelligence of anyone thinking they’re getting news from news shows.
August 17th, 2008 at 1:18 pmI think Fox’s numbers are bloated. I have stayed at motels where the management has fox on in the lobby….nobody is watching except out of boredom during the “free” breakfast. It is often on at the gym where it inspires red faced anger redirected at various exercise equipment. There is even a restaurant in my hometown which always has fox on several TVs around the dining area….mediocre greasy food sold mostly to Seniors who love their discount… the one time I went there, I wanted to own the gadget that turns off all TVs in a room. Serious dyspepsia.
August 17th, 2008 at 1:19 pmFundamentalist Christians might as well be Fundamentalist Muslims. Myself, I am a Fundamentalist Frog worshipper, I take literally everything he says and I want a frog placed in every public school and government office. Someday frog will even have his own TV show.
August 17th, 2008 at 1:24 pmOh< please forgive me…frog should have been Frog.
August 17th, 2008 at 1:25 pm.
ABCNNBCBS&FOXPRAVDA all share a broad swath of viewership on their propaganda campaign.
.
August 17th, 2008 at 1:36 pmunbelievable Says
Not until get more answers about how lieberman ended up on the ticket and what (if any) role he may have played in undermining the ticket.
August 17th, 2008 at 2:04 pmWhat do they all have in common? They all spread the misinformation, to varying degrees, their corporate sponsors want them to spread. Unfortunately, we Americans aren’t willing to do what’s necessary to change the status quo.
The only way to change corporate news is to boycott cable until true ala carte service is offered. Then we Americans have to refuse to pay for “news” channels that lie to us or fail to deliver what they are paid to provide.
August 17th, 2008 at 2:09 pmjb, I’m right there with you. I was once a doubter, but after having witnessed the miracle of speaking in tongues — “Bud” … “weis” … “er,” I’ve found my purpose-driven way, and I shan’t be left behind. Praise Kermit!
August 17th, 2008 at 3:10 pmAs a bleeding heart liberal with an Internet connection, I don’t often watch 24-hour news networks. But when I do, I mostly watch Fox. I like to keep an eye on them, and it does feel good to be smarter than everyone on my TV. And remember, you see it on Fox today, you’ll be arguing against it with your relative/acquaintance/coworker tomorrow.
August 17th, 2008 at 3:36 pmI’m wading through the actual report, but I want to know what “regularly watching” means. If you tune in for a minute or two, does that count? Maybe they should ask “do you watch Hannity, O’Reilly, Olbermann, Dobbs, Hardball, etc., every day, from beginning to end? Do you have Tivo season passes for any of them? Or do you lock out any channels completely?”
August 17th, 2008 at 5:54 pmFrom wikipedia.org:
A study by the Program on International Policy Attitudes,[39] in the Winter 03-04 issue of Political Science Quarterly, reported that viewers of the Fox Network local affiliates or Fox News were more likely than viewers of other news networks to hold three misperceptions:[40] :
67% of Fox viewers believed that the “U.S. has found clear evidence in Iraq that Saddam Hussein was working closely with the al Qaeda terrorist organization” (Compared with 56% for CBS, 49% for NBC, 48% for CNN, 45% for ABC, 16% for NPR/PBS).
The belief that “Iraq was directly involved in September 11″ was held by 33% of CBS viewers and only 24% of Fox viewers, 23% for ABC, 22% for NBC, 21% for CNN and 10% for NPR/PBS
35% of Fox viewers believed that “the majority of people [in the world] favor the U.S. having gone to war” with Iraq. (Compared with 28% for CBS, 27% for ABC, 24% for CNN, 20% for NBC, 5% for NPR/PBS)
The above is pretty good proof that Fu(k nOoze RePugniScum viewers are idiots and ghoul-aid guzzling, corporate fascist.
It’s the motherland of trolls everywhere!!
August 17th, 2008 at 6:03 pmSorry, I left out the link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_News_Channel_controversies
August 17th, 2008 at 6:06 pmThat would be torture to watch FAUX! Worse than waterbording!
I depend on website that do watch FAUX so I Don’t Have To Listen To Their Lies and “Cue Card” Opinion / Suppose to be “News”!!
August 17th, 2008 at 8:46 pmcabbinbagger Says:
“Looks like Fox News deserves their slogan: “Fair and Balanced.” It would appear the statistics show most Americans feel it to be an accurate statement.”
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA. they find the missing white chick yet?
August 18th, 2008 at 6:42 am