TREND INSIGHTS CABLE TV IS THE DOMINANT SOURCE FOR POLITICAL COVERAGE June 2016
CABLE TV IS THE DOMINANT SOURCE FOR POLITICAL COVERAGE The recently concluded political primary season has been more raucous and unpredictable than any other in recent history. In the addition to the two presumptive candidates, the biggest winners of this political season have been the cable news networks. Heading into this summer s party conventions, the cable news networks have established themselves as the primary source this political season. Audience Records for Debates: The four cable networks that televised the Republican Presidential debates all set audience records. Of the 12 Republican debates televised, ten of them aired on cable. Each of the ten cable telecasts averaged over 11 million viewers. The first Republican debate occurred on August 6, 2015 from Cleveland on Fox News. According to Nielsen, the debate averaged 24 million viewers, this not only set an audience record for Fox News but, also became the most watched cable news program ever, surpassing the NAFTA debate between Vice President Al Gore and H. Ross Perot that had aired on CNN in November 1993 and averaged 16.8 million viewers. (By the time the Presidential debates were over, the NAFTA debate would rank fifth among viewers). 2 TRENDS INSIGHTS
Average Audience Republican Presidential Debates (in Millions) on Cable Television 24.0 23.1 18.0 16.9 14.0 13.5 11.1 12.5 14.5 11.9 Fox News CNN CNBC Fox Business CNN Fox Business Fox News CNN Fox News CNN Aug 6, 2015 Sep 16, 2015 Oct 28, 2015 Nov 10, 2015 Dec 15, 2015 Jan 14, 2016 Jan 28, 2016 Feb 25, 2016 Mar 3, 2016 Mar 10, 2016 Source: Nielsen (Persons 2+) The following month (September 16, 2015), CNN televised the second Republican Presidential debate from Simi Valley, California. CNN s coverage also broke its own audience record averaging 23.1 million viewers. The first two Republican Presidential debates had averaged three to four times more viewers than the Presidential debates of 2011. In addition, through the years, only a handful of sports events on cable have generated over 23-24 million viewers. Furthermore, the audience delivery of the first two debates had more viewers than such high profile sporting events as NBA Finals and World Series, both of which air on broadcast television. According to Politico, the average audience of the first two debates were more than those who had voted in all the Republican Presidential primaries of 2012 (18.9 million). The next two debates were televised on business news networks on cable. On October 28, 2015 the third Republican Presidential debate originated from Boulder, Colorado and was televised on CNBC. Airing opposite the second game of the World Series, the debate averaged 14.0 million viewers. (The World Series game that night averaged 13.7 million viewers on Fox). Although lower than the viewership on either Fox News or CNN, it more than tripled CNBC s previous audience record of 3.9 million viewers during its 2002 Winter Olympic coverage from Salt Lake City. The fourth Republican debate occurred two weeks later (November 10, 2015) from Milwaukee and aired on the eightyear old Fox Business Network. Once again a cable network set a viewing record. The debate averaged 13.5 million viewers, a significant increase over the 100,000 viewers that Fox Business typically averages. TRENDS INSIGHTS 3
CNN televised the fifth and final Republican debate of 2015 on December 15th, airing opposite the season finale of the popular The Voice on NBC and the top rated drama NCIS on CBS. Nonetheless, the debate averaged a strong 18.0 million viewers, making it the third most watched cable newscast of all-time. CNN also televised the first Democratic Presidential debate on October 13, 2015 from Las Vegas. The debate generated an average audience of 15.8 million viewers, making it the most watched televised Democratic Presidential debate ever. The remaining Democratic debates on cable did not generate viewers over ten million, although the audience delivery were well above the average audience. Throughout the first three months of 2016, the remaining Presidential debates continued to deliver strong ratings. According to Nielsen, in first quarter, 2016 Fox News for the first time since its launch in 1996, was the most watched ad supported cable network in prime time, averaging 2.37 million viewers. Since August 2015 when the political season began the prime time audience delivery for all three cable news networks have grown their audience significantly in prime time. The Average Audience of Cable News Networks in Prime Time (in Thousands) 2,086 1,721 1,092 765 543 528 Fox News CNN 2014-2015 2015-2016 MSNBC Source: Nielsen NPower; M-Sun 8-11PM, Person 2+ (Live + Same Day) August 1, 2014-June 14, 2015 & August 1, 2015-June 14, 2016 As these record ratings indicate, cable was a principal source for political news, from debates, to town halls, caucuses, primaries and everything else in between. A survey from Pew Research among U.S. Adults, conducted in January 2016 (just prior to the start of primaries and caucuses), found that an astounding 91% of Americans had learned about the election from 11 different media sources. At 24%, the survey also found that cable news was the most helpful medium by a wide margin. Cable news was listed as the most helpful media source with all age groups above thirty. 4 TRENDS INSIGHTS
91% of U.S. Adults learned about the 2016 Presidential Election Last Week Cable News was the most helpful source 24% 14% 14% 13% 11% 10% 3% 3% 2% 2% 1% Cable News Social Media Local TV News Website/ App Radio Network TV News Late Night Comedy Local Newspaper (Print) National Newspaper (Print) Issue based group (App, Website, Email) Candidate Campaign (App, Website, Email) Source: Pew Research Survey Conducted January 12-27, 2016 3,760 U.S. Adults Although the primary season has concluded, the political season is far from over. In July comes the political conventions, and with the broadcast networks cutting back their coverage to about one hour each night (or even pre-empting a night entirely), the cable news networks have become the primary source for coverage of them. According to Business Week, cable news networks have already announced they will have wall to wall coverage of both conventions. The 2016 Republican National Convention takes place in Cleveland from July 18-21. The 2016 Democratic National Convention from Philadelphia the following week from July 25-28. Afterwards, as in previous elections, the cable news networks will cover the issues, interview the candidates, provide post-debate analyses as well as cover the race for control of Congress and, of course, Election Day itself. Many political pundits have said there has never been anything quite like the 2016 Presidential campaign, the longest and most unpredictable in recent memory. In fact, some industry analysts state the first Presidential debate could be the second most watched telecast on television this year after the Super Bowl. As it has during the primary season, the cable news coverage will provide viewers and voters with a front row seat right through Election Day, November 8th and the new Presidential administration afterwards. TRENDS INSIGHTS 5
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