SAGE Advice: When It's President-Picking Time, Ad Sellers Win
Posted: 12/7/2007 | By: Leo Shapiro, Steve Yahn, and Erik Shapiro
Our Leo J. Shapiro & Associates September national survey of 450 potential U.S. voters finds 43% name newspapers spontaneously when asked where they get election-related news. The reach of newspapers is only about half the 79% reach of television, but double the 21% reach of the Internet -- and four times the 5% reach of radio.
Relative to television and the Internet, newspapers are disadvantaged in terms of becoming the primary source of election news. Only a third of the 43% of Americans who get election news from newspapers say they get most of their election news from newspapers. By contrast, half of those getting news from the Internet name it as the source of most of their election news, and three-quarters of those who get some election news from television get most of their news from that medium.
News media usage information divides sharply by political leaning, with profound implications for political advertisers.
In our November 2007 national survey, about 4 in 10 (39%) lean strongly Democratic up slightly from 38% in September, and 3 in 10 (30%) lean strongly Republican, up only a tick from 28% in September.
Our November findings indicate that the Democratic eyeballs might be more expensive to reach than Republican eyeballs. In the past seven days before being interviewed in November, zealous Republicans tend to be more likely than their friends across the aisle to consume:
?TV news -- 96% versus 87%
?Local newspaper, either online or print -- 73% versus 65%
?And radio news -- 65% versus 55%
Past seven days Internet news usage is about even-steven between the Red and the Blue: 47% for zealous Republicans, versus 48% for Democratic zealots.
Zealous Democratic news consumers are a little more likely than Republican zealots -- 24% versus 22% -- to have read a national newspaper (print or online) in the past seven days and more likely to have read a news magazine -- 26% versus 20%.
Editorial tastes vary across party lines. Our aggregated July-to-November national surveys find the national problems of concern to Democrats to be widely different from the problems of concern to Republicans.
Democratic zealots are sharply more likely than zealous Republicans to be concerned about the nation?s military capabilities (58% to 28%), Iraq (26% to 14%), health care (24% to 11%), recession (14% to 10%), and poverty (7% to 0%).
By contrast, Republican zealots are much more likely than zealous Democrats to be concerned about immigration (24% to 11%), crime and violence (19% to 6%), and a perceived moral defect (14% to 2%).
Newspaper and all other political ad sellers should keep in mind that usage tendencies for Red- or Blue-leaning media consumers will be enhanced in the presence of their most-concerned-about news topics. Hunting Democrats? Run ads in a news magazine in special sections with a cover story about the potential for a recession to place a squeeze on healthcare and military spending that could then throw returning injured soldiers from Iraq into the poor house.
The Bottom Line
The market for political advertising is large because these are the United States of America, where democracy seems so secure to the people of this nation that a major portion of the public remains disengaged from the election process during a major portion of the campaign. Candidates must advertise just to stay in the running. Also, by the time Election Day rolls around, the country divides relatively closely between the competing parties, so a small shift in voting can change the outcome of the election.
Any newspaper that succeeds in getting its fair share of political advertising will also be taking a step toward slowing the decline in the circulation of their print edition, as well as their decline in advertising revenue.
The fact that newspapers lag television and the Internet -- in terms of inducing those who get some election news to get most of their news from the paper -- reflects the hard truth that newspapers have, despite producing an online as well as a print edition, remained for the most part a print medium. As a print medium with a relatively long recycle time, newspapers are disadvantaged relative to electronic media like television and the Internet, where content is refreshed continuously to keep readers abreast of fast-moving events like an election campaign.
However, by virtue of newspapers? ability to produce both print and online editions, newspapers have a potential competitive advantage over purely electronic media.
Relative to television and the Internet, newspapers are disadvantaged in terms of becoming the primary source of election news. Only a third of the 43% of Americans who get election news from newspapers say they get most of their election news from newspapers. By contrast, half of those getting news from the Internet name it as the source of most of their election news, and three-quarters of those who get some election news from television get most of their news from that medium.
News media usage information divides sharply by political leaning, with profound implications for political advertisers.
In our November 2007 national survey, about 4 in 10 (39%) lean strongly Democratic up slightly from 38% in September, and 3 in 10 (30%) lean strongly Republican, up only a tick from 28% in September.
Our November findings indicate that the Democratic eyeballs might be more expensive to reach than Republican eyeballs. In the past seven days before being interviewed in November, zealous Republicans tend to be more likely than their friends across the aisle to consume:
?TV news -- 96% versus 87%
?Local newspaper, either online or print -- 73% versus 65%
?And radio news -- 65% versus 55%
Past seven days Internet news usage is about even-steven between the Red and the Blue: 47% for zealous Republicans, versus 48% for Democratic zealots.
Zealous Democratic news consumers are a little more likely than Republican zealots -- 24% versus 22% -- to have read a national newspaper (print or online) in the past seven days and more likely to have read a news magazine -- 26% versus 20%.
Editorial tastes vary across party lines. Our aggregated July-to-November national surveys find the national problems of concern to Democrats to be widely different from the problems of concern to Republicans.
Democratic zealots are sharply more likely than zealous Republicans to be concerned about the nation?s military capabilities (58% to 28%), Iraq (26% to 14%), health care (24% to 11%), recession (14% to 10%), and poverty (7% to 0%).
By contrast, Republican zealots are much more likely than zealous Democrats to be concerned about immigration (24% to 11%), crime and violence (19% to 6%), and a perceived moral defect (14% to 2%).
Newspaper and all other political ad sellers should keep in mind that usage tendencies for Red- or Blue-leaning media consumers will be enhanced in the presence of their most-concerned-about news topics. Hunting Democrats? Run ads in a news magazine in special sections with a cover story about the potential for a recession to place a squeeze on healthcare and military spending that could then throw returning injured soldiers from Iraq into the poor house.
The Bottom Line
The market for political advertising is large because these are the United States of America, where democracy seems so secure to the people of this nation that a major portion of the public remains disengaged from the election process during a major portion of the campaign. Candidates must advertise just to stay in the running. Also, by the time Election Day rolls around, the country divides relatively closely between the competing parties, so a small shift in voting can change the outcome of the election.
Any newspaper that succeeds in getting its fair share of political advertising will also be taking a step toward slowing the decline in the circulation of their print edition, as well as their decline in advertising revenue.
The fact that newspapers lag television and the Internet -- in terms of inducing those who get some election news to get most of their news from the paper -- reflects the hard truth that newspapers have, despite producing an online as well as a print edition, remained for the most part a print medium. As a print medium with a relatively long recycle time, newspapers are disadvantaged relative to electronic media like television and the Internet, where content is refreshed continuously to keep readers abreast of fast-moving events like an election campaign.
However, by virtue of newspapers? ability to produce both print and online editions, newspapers have a potential competitive advantage over purely electronic media.