COMM 150: Yahoo! TV Blog - "Reign of Right-Wing Primetime" - niche broadcasting, market research, Sarah Palin and sow grizzlies

Not sure what I think of this -- but it's about niche broadcasting -- and politician-turned-TV-personality Sarah Palin and her new reality TV show about Alaska. And it shows how you can slice, dice and crosstab audience research figures.

Palin's sponsors on the TLC cable network are betting she'll appeal to a loyal market niche, and they downplay the controversy she brings to most subjects.

"Palin's going to be talking about Alaska: the Alaska salmon, the Alaska grizzly bear, the Alaska moose," Aaron Cohen, executive VP and chief media negotiating officer at Horizon Media, is quoted as saying. "As long as she doesn't end up shooting the moose, I don't think it will become a controversial program."

But the overall story compares and contrasts the alleged viewing habits of Republicans and Democrats. How thorough the research is, I'm not too sure. But it's based on a survey that cross-tabbed declared party preference with viewing habits. Nut graf:

According to months of data from leading media-research company Experian Simmons, viewers who vote Republican and identify themselves as conservative are more likely than Democrats to love the biggest hits on TV. Of the top 10 broadcast shows on TV in the spring, nine were ranked more favorably by viewers who identify themselves as Republican.

[list of shows deleted]

Liberals appreciate many of the same shows, mind you. But their devotion typically is not quite as strong as right-wingers, and Dems are more likely to prefer modestly rated titles.

And this: "... if you look at the list of broadcast shows that are Republican favorites, it closely mirrors the Nielsen top 10 list, whereas Democrats tend to gravitate toward titles likely to have narrower audiences."

And this ...

For what it's worth, Sarah Palin's reality show. The Yahoo! story's take on it follows a lengthy discussion of how shows were upbeat and approving of authority back in the day, more rebellious during the 70s and more conservative again in the 80s (which strikes this reader as doubtful pop sociology) and a segue:

All of which brings us to …

Alaska.

"Sarah Palin's Alaska." TLC is set to make one of the biggest bets of the year by taking arguably the most polarizing figure in politics and giving her a reality show. The broadcast hits on Experian's index tend to have at least some bipartisan support, but the lower ratings bar set for cable shows mean they get away with appealing to only one side or the other.

There's even a trailer for "Mama Bear" Palin's new show, which got panned, incidentially, in the Anchorage Daily News.

Best comment on Palin, well, my favorite, at least, was a letter to the editor in the ADN that suggested that if Palin spent more time in Alaska, she'd realize what she calls a "mama grizzly" is really a sow. The males are boars. For more on the lifestyle of sow grizzlies check out this story in the Alaska Dispatch. Palin is not mentioned, but it's good on bears.