Washington DC, (August 19, 2010) - A recent study of registered California voters finds that paid television services reaches 90% of homes with a television. Underlining the importance of cable and satellite saturation across the state is the finding that voters statewide watch more than twice as much cable content compared to content viewed on broadcast. 

A majority of the content viewed most frequently is non-news programming and is dominated by cable channels. When asked specifically about consumption of news programming, almost half of all registered voters indicated they had watched less than one hour of news in the last 48 hours. Further highlighting the importance of a diversified media strategy, while non-news programming targets voters across the board, the most likely consumers are swing voters and those who self identify as voting in major elections every two or four years.

“Recognizing that a majority of political messages are motivational to increase turnout among the base or persuasive to draw in new supporters, this research confirms that advertisement placement must include a mix of both news and non-news programming to reach the widest pool of voters and cable programming offers strong opportunity for targeting specific voter types” said Katie Handel with The Tarrance Group. These findings show that news programming effectively targets those who are already base voters and the most likely to turn out.  However, those who are more likely to need persuading are less likely to consume high levels of news content and are more likely to consume non-news cable content. Ignoring the messaging opportunity among non-news cable content  leaves a significant portion of
target voters untouched.

“This research shows there is a correlation between vote behavior and the amount and frequency of television consumed in addition to consumption of news programming. Those who self identify as voting in every election consume the highest levels of television and news content” said David Mermin with Lake Research Partners. Non-news cable programming targets those who indicate they vote in almost every election, major elections held every two or four years, and new voters. These target voting blocks watch television less frequently, consume fewer hours of news content, and have a significantly higher tendency to watch lifestyle, sports and entertainment as their most frequent program type. “This research shows the importance of reaching voters when and where they watch television.”

HIGH CABLE SATURATION

Cable and satellite reaches nearly 9 out of 10 potential California voters. In California, only 10% of all registered voters have antenna or rabbit ears as their primary television signal, meaning they receive broadcast stations only. A solid majority (59%) of all potential voters are cable subscribers while another 30% are satellite subscribers for a combined 89% of voters with a paid television service in their household.

WATCH MORE CABLE

Regardless of service available in their home, 62% indicate they watch more cable content while only 29% watch more broadcast content. A plurality (43%) indicate they watch much more cable content. Only 16% of all voters indicated they watch much more broadcast content. More likely to indicate they watch more cable than broadcast are those who self identify as voting in major elections held every two or four years (72%) compared to those who indicate they vote in almost every (59%) or every election (61%).

PROGRAMMING

When asked what type of programming voters watch most frequently, 35% indicate they watch news.  This is followed by 27% watch “entertainment,” 17% who watch “sports,” and 12% watch “lifestyle like home improvement or cooking” as their program type of most frequency. Another 8% of voters watched Spanish language, movies, educational, history, or religious programming most often. Analysis of the specific channel mentioned for each program type reveals that those who watch news most frequently are evenly split between local broadcast (48%) and cable and satellite channels (48%). However, for entertainment programming 51% watch on cable compared to 31% on broadcast. And, 74% watch lifestyle programming on cable while 14% watch on broadcast.

A majority of voters (64%) watch non-news programming most often. News programming targets base and the most likely voters. Non-news programming can target all voters. Regardless of vote propensity or party registration, more than 60% of all voters watch non-news programming most and this reaches 75% among those who self identify as
voting in major elections every two or four years and Independents.

When prompted specifically about news viewing habits, regardless of the type of programming they watch most frequently, almost a majority (47%) of voters either did not watch news programming in the last 48 hours (28%) or watched less than one hour (19%). One quarter of voters (25%) watched one hour of news, 18% watched two hours and 9% watched three or more hours of news.

NUMBER OF HOURS

There is a correlation between the self designated vote propensity and the declared number of hours of television consumed each day. Those watching the least amount of television are less consistent voters who play a big role in statewide elections, while those consuming higher amounts of television are more likely to vote in every single election. This means that a dispersed advertisement campaign is likely to reach the attention of these voters. However,
reaching those who consumer fewer hours of television will require reaching them where they watch.

Twenty percent (20%) of registered voters indicate they watch one or less hours of television a day, 50% watch two to three hours, and 28% watch four or more hours per day. Among those who indicate they watch four or more hours, 32% self identify as voting in every single election compared to just 29% of those who identify as voting in almost every and 24% of those who indicate they vote in major elections every two or four years. Cable and satellite subscribers are twice as likely to be high frequency television viewers (4 or more hours) compared to their broadcast only counterparts.

Among self declared primary election participants, there is a direct relationship between vote behavior and the amount of television consumed. The likelihood to vote in a primary decreases as the number of days a voter watched television and number of hours decreases. These voters are significantly more likely to indicate they watch sports (41%) or entertainment (40%) programs most frequently. When the channels of programming viewed most are combined, these voters are more likely to watch cable (42%) over broadcast (35%).

INFORMATION IMPORTANCE

When provided a list of ten specific ways in which voters might get news about elections held in California and asked to consider how important each has been as a source of information about the California primary election news programming ranks highest in importance followed by newspapers. More specifically, among cable and satellite subscribers, cable television news is given the highest importance of the ten sources with only 29% who would say it is not at all important. Among voters overall, 34% indicate newspapers are not at all important and 32% indicate local television news is not at all important.

CONCLUSION

The findings from this research highlight the importance of reaching voters when and where they watch television. Cable is critical to reaching persuadable key voting blocks. Cable reaches voters who watch both news and non-news programming. Across the board, cable is the dominant media for message placement and is most important for reaching voters with a moderate level of television consumption, Independents, swing voters and those who identify as turning out to vote in major elections every two or four years. These voters are the political battleground for campaigns.

METHODOLOGY

This research included a statewide telephone survey of  N=1,200 registered voters in California with a television in their household and was conducted under a bi-partisan partnership between The Tarrance Group and Lake Research Partners. This scientific survey is unique to the industry in that it offers the distinct perspectives of two top pollsters
from different sides of the aisle. Responses to this survey were gathered June 20-24, 2010. All respondents interviewed in this study were part of a fully representative sample based on the latest voter registration figures within the state. Further, it is important to note that a television must have been present in the household in order to participate in the survey.

The confidence interval associated with a sample of this type is such that 95% of the time results will be within ± 2.8% of the “true values” where “true values” refer to the results obtained if it were possible to interview every registered voter in the state with a television in their household.

David Mermin and Katie Handel are available for comment. For Lake, please contact David Mermin at Lake Research Partners, (510) 286-2097. For Tarrace, please contact Katie Handel at The Tarrance Group, (703) 684-6688. This data also is available via the Internet at www.tarrance.com or www.lakeresearch.com.