Nielsen's Most Engaging TV Shows by Party

[Shifty]

Nielsen Media Names Most Engaging Shows by Party

By Lisa deMoraes
washingtonpost.com

The cable show Democrats find most "engaging"?

That's a no-brainer -- Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report."

But the cable show Republicans find most "engaging"?

Comedy Central's "South Park."

This according to all-things-TV-stat-related Nielsen Media, which has released its findings in re: which cable shows are most "engaging" among self-identified Dems and GOP-ers.
"Engagement" means the amount of attention paid to a show by the average viewer. This is not the same as ratings. A show with small ratings can have high engagement. Anyway, Nielsen says it clocked engagement by asking a representative panel of viewers about their recall of the content of specific telecasts.

Over at Discovery Channel, the show with the highest Dem engagement: "Deadliest Catch," which follows the treacherous, sometimes deadly, work of crab-fishermen on the Bering Sea. For Republicans, it's "Cash Cab," in which taxi passengers are asked game show questions for money but if they answer three questions incorrectly they are ejected onto the sidewalk no matter where they are. (I'm guessing there's a Leno monologue joke in there somewhere.)

On FX, Republicans find Glen Close's corrupt lawyer drama "Damages" most engaging, while Democrats are most engaged with "It's always Sunny in Philadelphia," about four 20- and 30-something friends who run a bar in south Philly.

And, on the SciFi network, Republicans are most engaged by "Doctor Who," while Dems are most engaged with "Wizard of Oz" update "Tin Man."

This is not to say the two parties can't reach across the aisle and agree on which TV shows' are most engaging. Nielsen is quick to point out the cable shows with the highest engagement scores have bipartisan appeal. Tops on the bipartisan cable list: A&E's "The Cleaner," which stars Benjamin Bratt as a guy who, after hitting rock-bottom from his own addictions, strikes what the network calls "a tentative deal with God" -- whatever that means -- and now helps people deal with their additions "by any means necessary.

Next in the bipartisan line after the drug-addict drama? Bravos' "Real Housewives of Orange County."

 

[SuBe]

Damn, no Heroes...

 

[StorminNorman]

I am most shocked by the fact "The Deadliest Catch" being a Democrat friendly show

 

[The Senator]

I watched "Tin Man." I despised it.

 

[Shifty]

Damn, no Heroes...

That's a network show. This was only a study on cable shows.

 

[Manic]

Tin Man? Democrats have no taste in science fiction.

 

[RAMORE]

That's a really weird poll I wonder how that could be both sides seem to be wrong to me.

By the way Manic I love your avvy Darkwing duck was one of my favorites

 

[Hobgoblin]

Hm, the only one of those that I find engaging is South Park. Go figure.

 

[Manic]

By the way Manic I love your avvy Darkwing duck was one of my favorites

And to think, I almost picked Panchito from Three Caballeros.

 

[rdh007]

I am most shocked by the fact "The Deadliest Catch" being a Democrat friendly show

I love that show.

 

[BlackestNight]

Not surprised South Park is loved by Republicans. The show is from a Libertarian point of view. Republicans love it Conservatives hate it "ManBearPig"