tubetimes

Politics Is Ratings King

This political season has drawn more viewers to conventions and debates than ever before. It’s only increasing:

Obama convention speech- 38.4 million
McCain convention speech- 38.9 million
First presidential debate- 52.4 million
Vice-presidential debate- 69.9 million
Second presidential debate- 63.2 million

As of this writing, the third one hasn’t come out yet but boy, do networks wish their prized little primetime dramas would get the numbers the Washington wannabes are getting.

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The spectacle of the upcoming elections isn’t the only thing that’s on the minds of media watchers these days. CNN has added to its smorgasborg of special effects what could be the greatest gimmick of news television (after the distracting stock/ other news tickers, crazy graphics etc): the [undecided voter] audience reaction graph. It is hypnotic, mesmerizing and absolutely another way to make viewers less focused than they are now. I have to admit that I myself tune in to CNN when the debates are on because I want to see if what resonates with these undecideds is what resonates with me, or if they’re agreeing with what my guy is saying. However, after three debates of gazing at the lower central part of the screen, I feel that I recall much less of what happened than if the damned graph wasn’t there in the first place.

In this ADD/multi-tasking/overload/lightspeed world, comprehension isn’t what network executives are looking for. CNN’s audience reaction graph has people from all over the media landscape talking about it at the end (of course the Anderson Cooper 360 post-analysis features it heavily) because it is so fucking brilliant. The only people that matter in this election right now are those swing voters and to have a peek at how they’re thinking and feeling while the presidential contestants are battling it out to win their vote is a stroke of genius. Nevermind that the small group of about 25 cannot possibly accurately reflect how the national undecideds are feeling but still. The idea is out there and statistical significance is of no importance.

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