TV Shows Liked By Democrats and Republicans Differ Greatly

According to Experian Simmons, a media research firm, there is no overlap between the most watched shows by Democrats and Republicans.

One of my students in my #CSP19: LGBT Rights in the Era of Obama and Google class pointed out  the list to me, and commented on the cognitive dissonance of the members of the anti-gay political party enjoying watching a show (Modern Family) which prominently features a gay white male couple raising a Vietnamese baby girl.

That's an interesting observation. What I notice from the list is that the shows which are in my DVR are Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory, Survivor, and 30 Rock. We just stopped watching Desperate Housewives, V and Damages this year. I have tuned into Countdown with Keith Olberman but prefer The Rachel Maddow Show.

Surprisingly, the shows that I prefer to watch live (or within 7 days of taping) are Modern Family and Survivor, which are on the Republican list. You can count me in the significant fraction (20%) of Californians who would "almost never consider" voting for a Republican candidate for any office.

So, clearly I exhibit some kind of partisan hybridity in television selection!