Republicans Love 'Deadliest Catch,' Dems Dig 'Saving Grace'
Apparently, Republicans are attracted to blood in the water.
According to primetime viewing data collected by TiVo for the month of July, the top show Republican households overindexed on was Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch while the highest-skewing show for Democrats was TNT’s Saving Grace starring Holly Hunter.
As you’d expect, news programs were split along party lines: For Republicans, eight out of the highest-indexing 10 news programs were on Fox News Channel, while Democrats overindexed on the CBS Morning News as well as MSNBC and CNN programs. Indeed, in July, not a single Republican in TiVo’s sample watched MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann, while no potential alternative fuel vehicle buyers watched any of FNC’s The O’Reilly Factor in July.
In analyzing TV viewing by political stripe, TiVo is trying to showcase how viewing metrics from its PowerWatch sample of 35,000 households can be applied to demographic data. (The DVR company measured political affiliation by asking panel members, “Would you classify yourself as Republican or Democrat?”)
One show both sides of the aisle gravitate toward: TNT’s The Closer. Could Kyra Sedgwick bridge the gap in the health-care debate?
Here are the top 10 primetime shows Republican households overindexed on in July:
| Program | Network | A18-49 Rating |
Republican Rating |
Index |
| Deadliest Catch | Discovery | 3.8 | 4.9 | 130.2 |
| J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life | ABC | 3.1 | 3.8 | 125.2 |
| Wipeout | ABC | 5.7 | 6.6 | 116.2 |
| Raising the Bar | TNT | 3.7 | 4.2 | 112.9 |
| Army Wives | Lifetime | 3.5 | 3.8 | 110.8 |
| The Closer | TNT | 7.0 | 7.7 | 110.3 |
| America’s Got Talent | NBC | 5.1 | 5.5 | 109.6 |
| The Bachelorette | ABC | 5.6 | 6.1 | 109.4 |
| Eli Stone | ABC | 5.2 | 5.7 | 109.1 |
| Mental | FOX | 3.8 | 4.0 | 105.4 |
| Source: TiVo PowerWatch Data, July 2009 __________________________________ |
And here’s the list for the Democrats:
| Program | Network | A18-49 Rating |
Democrat Rating |
Index |
| Saving Grace | TNT | 3.4 | 5.3 | 153.6 |
| Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List | Bravo | 4.2 | 6.4 | 151.2 |
| The Closer | TNT | 7.0 | 9.6 | 138.0 |
| The Philanthropist | NBC | 4.2 | 5.8 | 137.2 |
| The Listener | NBC | 4.7 | 6.0 | 128.9 |
| Raising the Bar | TNT | 3.7 | 4.8 | 128.8 |
| Merlin | NBC | 4.5 | 5.7 | 126.2 |
| Top Chef Masters | Bravo | 5.8 | 7.2 | 125.9 |
| Dirty Sexy Money | ABC | 4.8 | 6.1 | 125.6 |
| Leverage | TNT | 4.7 | 5.9 | 125.0 |
| Source: TiVo PowerWatch Data, July 2009 __________________________________ |
Larry from Atlanta commented:
What's happening to this country?, The Closer is on both lists! And where is Dancing with the Stars?