Pew: Cable Is Top Source of Campaign News

By John Eggerton -- Multichannel News, 2/13/2012 12:01:00 AM

Washington — Cable news has overtaken local TV news as the top source for campaign news, though by virtue of not declining. That is according to a new study from the Pew Research Center. “The one constant over the course of the past four elections is the reach of cable news,” the Pew report said.

Broadcasters took issue with that characterization: “Apparently the Pew people are having trouble with addition,” said National Association of Broadcasters spokesman Dennis Wharton. “Their chart states that 36% of poll respondents list cable as their main source for political news, while 32% of respondents list local broadcast TV news and 26% list network broadcast TV news as their main source for news. So in other words, by a margin of 58% to 36%, broadcasters are the main source for campaign news over cable. Thus, broadcast TV remains the king for campaign news.”