Posted on 11/12/2007 11:34:28 AM PST by rface
BBSNews 2007-11-12 -- (Zogby) UTICA, New York – Rush Limbaugh touts himself – mostly in jest – as having "talent on loan from God" and credits that talent for his huge listenership and dominant perch atop the world of talk radio in America, but an extensive five–month polling and research project by Zogby International and the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School shows his popularity may have more to do with pre–set beliefs in the minds of his listeners than with his presentation skills.
Actually, Limbaugh was ahead of the curve in recognizing the source of his ratings success. He often says it is because he is merely confirming what listeners already believed, not because of his powers of persuasion.
He also says he suspects there is a sizable chunk of his audience who are not conservative like him, but rather are from the other end of the political spectrum. On this point the Zogby/Lear Center Poll shows he is right, er, correct. The extensive interactive survey of deeply held beliefs and behavior patterns – conducted June 26–29, 2007, including 3,939 adults nationwide and carrying a margin of error of +/– 1.6 percentage points – shows that liberals were much more likely than conservatives to listen to commentary and entertainment with which they disagreed philosophically. This could be part of the reason Air America has faltered – there are simply fewer potential listeners.
While 22% of conservatives said they "never" enjoy entertainment that reflects values other than their own, just 7% of liberals felt the same way. At the other end of the scale, just 11% of conservatives said they "very often" enjoyed programming that ran counter to their personal philosophies, compared to 20% of liberals and 18% of moderates who said the same thing. In other words, Limbaugh's potential audience is larger than that of liberal competitors because more liberals say they will listen to conservatives than vice versa.
This is just one conclusion from this far–reaching survey and research project which was designed to probe the thinking of Americans about the subjects of politics and entertainment. The findings showed that not only is the country sharply divided on the topic of politics, it is also deeply split in the types of entertainment and information that appeal to "Reds" (conservatives) and "Blues" (liberals).
Caught in the middle are moderates, dubbed "Purples" for the sake of this study, who find plenty of entertainment offerings available on the major broadcast television networks. They love "police procedurals" like Law & Order and CSI: Miami, as well as mass–market books like mysteries and thrillers. Basically, anything without a political theme appeals to the "Purples."
So What Makes These "Reds," "Blues," and "Purples" Tick?
At the end of this release is a detailed statistical summary of the research project's findings, but here is a brief summary of the three typologies, which were created as part of a statistical clustering analysis based on respondent answers to a wide range of questions. Reds make up 37% of the nation, while liberals comprise 39% and moderates 24%, the Zogby/Lear Center research shows.
The "reds"
People with a "red" entertainment preference think a lot of programming is in bad taste and doesn't reflect their values. They don't like a lot of things on TV, but their two favorite channels are Fox and Fox News. They like sports, especially football and auto racing, and they watch news and business programming. They don't like most contemporary music and they don't watch VH1 or MTV. They don't much like late-night TV. They like to go to sporting events, and when they do go to the movies – which is rarely – they seek out action-adventure films. They're not big book readers, but when they do read, they prefer non-fiction. When they read fiction, they often select mysteries and thrillers. They are more likely to listen to country and gospel than other people, but their favorite music is classical. They don't play a lot of video games, but when they do, Madden NFL and Mario are their favorites. They think that fictional TV shows and movies are politically biased, and they believe they can predict a person's politics if they know the person's entertainment preferences.
The "blues"
People with a "blue" entertainment preference like many of different types of programming, even if it doesn't reflect their taste or values. They shy away from a lot of primetime programming, especially game shows and reality TV, but they like comedies, drama, documentaries, news, and arts and educational programming. They love 60 Minutes, PBS, HBO, Comedy Central and The Daily Show. They go to the movies, where they often see comedies, and they like to go to live theater and museums and galleries. They read books more often than most people – they prefer fiction to non-fiction, but their favorite genre is politics and current events. They enjoy entertainment with political themes, and they feel like they learn about politics from entertainment. Sports are less interesting to them, but football is their favorite, and they're more likely to follow soccer than other people. They like lots of different kinds of music (except country) and they watch MTV and VH1. They play video games a lot more than other people – Mario and The Sims are favorites.
The "purples"
People with "purple" entertainment preferences like all the broadcast networks and a lot of primetime programming, including police procedurals, game shows and reality programming. They watch a lot of Fox News and they like daytime and children's programming more than other people. Moderates like to read non-fiction, including self-help books and biographies, but they like mysteries and thrillers best. Rock music is their favorite – they don't like classical or folk music as much as other people. Their favorite video games are Mario, Donkey Kong and Madden NFL. They don't seek out entertainment with political themes and they are far less likely to read books about politics or current events than other people. They are less likely than other people to think that they can predict a person's politics based on their entertainment preferences.
On Oprah and Immigration
Once you know how people of different political philosophies approach entertainment, it is easier to understand why Oprah Winfrey may be just the ticket to help Democrat Barack Obama reach those key liberal voters that are so prized in a Democratic primary contest. Other Zogby polling shows Obama doing well among more liberal Democrats, but Oprah could also appeal to some self–described political moderates that Obama needs to break through the lead now set by Hillary Clinton of New York. That Oprah could offset some of the natural gender appeal Clinton carries among female voters is obvious. Our survey analysis shows moderates tend not to seek out entertainment with a political edge, so when they take a dose of politics, it may go down better when administered by such a non–political bona fide star. It is also important to note that 62% of moderates are women, which could also help intensify the Oprah endorsement.
The survey also shows that women who pay more attention to entertainment programming than news programming are more likely to support Democrats in the voting booth.
On the question of immigration, the survey shows the Reds and Blues are far apart on a core philosophical belief. It is as if half the Reds are suspicious – they are split down the middle, as 53.5% believe foreigners immigrate to America for the chance to work for a better life, but 46.5% believe they come to get benefits from the U.S. government. However, almost all Blues (96%) said they think foreigners come for a chance to work for a better life.
Such divergent core beliefs between Reds and Blues may make it impossible to find an acceptable solution to the current problem posed by undocumented immigrants.
Other Key Findings of the Zogby/Lear Center Politics and Entertainment Survey:
The Zogby/Lear Center survey shows that the difference between conservatives and liberals goes much deeper than politics, involving much deeper patterns of thinking and behavior. It's almost like the Reds and the Blues are living in parallel universes. Liberals say they like entertainment with a political flavor, while conservatives eschew such programming out of suspicion that it is tainted with a liberal bias. Instead, they favor news or reality television. And conservatives love sports programming, in part because there's no way to inject liberalism into a football game:
On tv shows:
* More than twice as many liberals say they're very often attracted to programming with political themes, compared to the rest of respondents, and this plays out in their TV show preferences, with 60 Minutes and Brothers and Sisters topping the list of shows most closely associated with liberal viewers. Moderates are more likely than liberals or conservatives to favor daytime programming and children's programming. * Out of 20 top-rated TV programs, the one that conservatives are more likely than others to tune out is 60 Minutes (almost 68% say they never watch it, compared to 27% of all other respondents). * Late-night programming fares poorly with conservatives, with more than 32% saying they never watch nighttime talk shows. Offered a range of nighttime choices, 22% of conservatives picked Jay Leno, while over 54% of liberals selected Jon Stewart.
On Books:
* Conservatives and liberals are more likely than moderates to read books. * Liberals are almost twice as likely as conservatives to read literary fiction (20% to 11%) and they're also more likely to read science fiction/fantasy than moderates (13% to 8%). * Moderates and conservatives favor mysteries and thrillers while liberals (22%) and conservatives (20%) prefer books about politics and current events. * Liberals like non-fiction and fiction equally. Moderates and conservatives prefer non-fiction. * Moderates are more likely to read self-help books (7%)—liberals are the least likely to read them (3%).
On Leisure Activities:
* You're more likely to find conservatives at sporting events than at movie theaters, live theater or museums and galleries. * Twenty-one percent of conservatives say they never go the movies, compared to less than 9% of liberals. When conservatives do go to the cinema, the biggest draw is action-adventure movies (35%) while liberals rank comedies (26%) and drama (25%) highest. * Liberals are much more likely to visit museums and galleries and go to the movies and live theater.
On Mixing Entertainment & Politics:
* Conservatives overwhelmingly (76%) believe that TV shows and movies "very often" contain political messages, but they are the least likely to learn anything about political issues from them. Just 4% say they learn lessons from movies. * While 68% of liberals seek out entertainment that contains political themes and commentary, just 33% of moderates are the least likely to do so. * Not only are moderates much less likely than other groups to seek out entertainment with political themes. Compared to conservatives and liberals, they are three times less likely to read a book on politics or current events. * Nearly two in three conservatives think it is possible to predict a person's politics when they know the person's entertainment preferences, while 55% of liberals and 50% of moderates agree. * Over 80% of liberals admit that they are entertained by material that's in bad taste. Almost 40% of conservatives say they are never entertained by it.
Both of these polling groups are liberal. >:-}
I like to hit them with what one of the liberal programs will do to them if it happens.
Like the fact that the rich aren’t the only ones who are going to get taxed, and how it will end up hitting their wallet.
Now with Jon Carey, I had a really good time because he was a snotty idiot. Sad thing for them too, because they knew it!
So did pretty much polling organization in the country. In many of the races, Zogby's margins were totally off (the Senate races in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee for example).
Besides, when the results of a race are going to be known to the world when it's over, it pays to do your damnedest to get it right. Not the case with this type of poll. There will never be any results to compare it to. It will never be judged for accuracy. It's just Zogby, an activist leftist, pushing his own leftist agenda. Like he does every other time he can get away with it.
Trust the guy at your peril. But I sure as hell don't.
Rush is real. Hannity, to me, seems a bit plastic.
This is Astrology and Horoscope reading...That, or I have MPD.
I find reading the desciptions, that I can easily catagorize myself as a Red, Blue, or Purple, depending on a mood I may be in, on any given day.
“Today is a bad day to hit yourself in the foot with a hammer....”
This is psychotic. Zogby has long gone round the bend with his anti-American and anti-Semitic tirades.
It was the revolutionaries of the 1800s that cemented Red as their color because it is the color of the blood they were so determined to spill and it was enthusiastically adopted by the Communists.
The MSM reassigned the colors because red was too identified with the left by everyone and Americans are generally distrustful of Left. I was appalled when the Conservative media and politicians accepted the change without much comment at all. Are we now accepting the mantle of Revolution?
Hannity’s show is for soccer moms. He actually serves a valuable purpose, as long as you don’t have to listen to him or his audience.
Certainly Rush attracts listeners of like mind. Does anyone seriously believe that is any different than those who listen to Air America? What is key is not who listens to Rush, but how many. Rush has a huge audience as do other conservative talk shows indicating that there are lots of conservative minded Americans. Liberal talk radio has always had ratings problems simply because relatively few people agree with their perspective and tune in to listen. It is the same reason that the MSM is headed to extinction. When people are given a choice they tune in those they most agree with.
I am not usually a talk radio listener, but i have had occasion to listen to several days shows over the last few weeks, of Limbaugh and Hannity following him. And one thing that *did*...cause me mild wonder..was how many callers were DemoLibs...and it seemed that Hannity had many more Libs calling his show than Rushs’ show.
He *does* seem to get their panties all bunched up...the Dem womens too. ;o)
Yes, of course. I will take anyone that is on the Right to
counter the leftist LSM.
I do listen to Hannity via online from WABC, but given a choice I would take five days of Rush over one day of Sean.
That makes it sound like liberals are more open minded and tolerant but we know better...right.
Races in which one candidate wins by a wide margin are often hard to predict, because turnout is less predictable and the number of undecideds is usually greater than normal.
Ah yes, liberals love to listen to diverse opinions. That's why the MSM is usually at least 3 to 1 liberal, and they feel that is "balanced" while FOX has roughly equal numbers of liberals and conservatives and the liberal complain that FOX is biased.
A liberals idea of diverse opinions is" Shall we raise taxes $2.1 Trillion or only $2 Trillion, while cutting taxes isn't even a valid opinion to be considered.
I don't own a TV - 90% of the content is garbage, and the other 10% is stuff that the internet is better suited to disseminate (history, science, medical, politics). FOX news is slightly less left-wing than its competitors, but I would not call it conservative by any stretch, and am not endeared to it even remotely.
They like sports, especially football and auto racing, and they watch news and business programming.
Can't stand sports...unless you count women's beach volleyball and similar :-)
They don't like most contemporary music and they don't watch VH1 or MTV. They don't much like late-night TV.
Sorta - a smattering (~6/year?) of catchy songs notwithstanding. True. True.
They like to go to sporting events, and when they do go to the movies – which is rarely – they seek out action-adventure films.
Can't stand sports. Movies - yup, only action-adventure (300, Gladiator, Sin City, Casino Royale, etc).
They prefer non-fiction. When they read fiction, they often select mysteries and thrillers.
Spot on - aside from my wife's Clancy novels, only non-fiction graces my shelves. About 800 lbs of it.
They think that fictional TV shows and movies are politically biased, and they believe they can predict a person's politics if they know the person's entertainment preferences.
Duh. As for the second point, not always.
I read it as not more open minded but looking for the correct path.
It’s continually amazing how many people , mostly lefties ,misinterpret the phrase “Talent on loan from God”—it’s the ultimate statement of humility—any talents any of us have are “on loan from God”
fyi
Your post is right on the mark. The biggest forced indoctrination system is the Big Government Public Schools. Liberals are so used to the constant their concentrated leftist messages, they think Rush is an conservative extremist.
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