Monday, September 14, 2009

CNN: Network of Democrat Viewers

CNN has done what it can to market itself as the middle-of-the-road cable network; not “rightwing” like Fox News, not “leftwing” like MSNBC. No Bias, No Bull and all that.

The marketing mantra has resulted in … well, it’s not entirely clear what. The cable pioneer’s ratings have plunged. Today it actually rates third in many time slots.

A new survey by The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press contains many interesting nuggets. But the most interesting is that despite the down-the-middle marketing initiative, CNN is actually the favorite network of Democrats. By a lot.

According to the study, 75% of Democrats have a favorable view of CNN. That’s the highest among the three cable news outlets. The network is viewed favorably by only 44% of Republicans. By comparison, only 60% of Democrats have a favorable view of MSNBC.

The study also states, “Democrats are more than twice as likely than Republicans to cite CNN (29% vs. 13%).”

What does it all mean?  Well, it’s difficult to say exactly. But one thing is for sure.  If CNN believes its own marketing then it is proceeding down a self-delusional path, one that may accelerate its ratings woes.  If they are selling a product, they need to brand themselves more accurately and target their audience more deliberately.

Topics: cnn, msnbc, fox-news