Tivo Tallies Viewing Habits Based On Political Affiliation

When it comes to recording television programs for later viewing, Democrats like "Saving Grace" while Republicans prefer "Deadliest Catch."

And it should come as no surprise that, among partisan viewers, Fox News Channel is tops with followers of the GOP while Democrats spilt their news recording among MSNBC, CBS and CNN.

This information comes from TiVo and its Power Watch ratings analysis, which claims to measure all sorts of viewer demographics, including viewing habits based on political affiliation.

TiVo, the company that created the digital video recorder (DVR), offered a "snapshot" of what Power Watch can reveal to advertisers by looking at the digital recordings of 35,000 households during July.

Based on Power Watch ratings of the most-recorded primetime programs in July, "Saving Grace," a TNT drama starring Holly Hunter as a hard-drinking, fast-living, police woman seeking redemption, ranked No.1 among Democratic viewers ages 18 to 49. The series has since been canceled.

"Deadliest Catch," a Discovery channel reality series about the risky business of commercial crab fishing, was No. 1 among Republican viewers ages 18 to 49.

Other primetime shows popular with Republicans included Lifetime's military drama "Army Wives," NBC's reality competition "America's Got Talent" and ABC reality shows "The Bachelorette" and "Wipeout" (a slapstick reality competition where contestants often all flat on their faces while running an obstacle course).

Democrats most-recorded list includes the raunchy comedy "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List," "Dirty Sexy Money," "Leverage" and "Top Chef Masters."

Only two dramas made both top 10 lists: TNT's "The Closer," starring Kyra Sedgwick as a tough police detective, and "Raising the Bar," a legal drama that follows "The Closer" on Monday nights.

Several programs on the list were limited-run summer series such as NBC's "Merlin" and "The Listener." Others were reruns such as "Dirty Sexy Money" and "Eli Stone." There was one ABC special about J.K. Rowling, the author of the "Harry Potter" novels.

TiVo officials say this kind of detailed information could be used by advertisers to better reach targeted audiences.

"Imagine you are a media planner charged with building a schedule starting in September to reach either Democrats or Republicans," said Todd Juenger, TiVo's vice president and general manager of audience research and measurement.

Targeting viewers ages 25 to 54, for example, "is meaningless because it tells nothing about the kind of people you are trying to reach," Juenger said in a statement issued by the company.

The 35,000 households agreed to provide demographic information and volunteered to let TiVo track their television viewing second-by-second.

TiVo also asked targeted marketing questions such as what was the probability that the households would buy an alternative energy vehicle in the next two years. More Democrats than Republicans indicated they would purchase such an automobile.

According to the TiVo results, "CBS Morning News" gets advertisers the highest value if targeting Democrats and Headline News' "Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell" and Fox's "Glenn Beck" get the highest value if targeting Republicans.

Here are the top 10 lists:

• Democrats ages 18 to 49

1. "Saving Grace" – TNT

2. "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List" – Bravo

3. "The Closer" – TNT

4. "The Philanthropist" – NBC

5. "The Listener" – NBC

6. "Raising the Bar" – TNT

7. "Merlin" – NBC

8. "Top Chef Masters" – Bravo

9. "Dirty Sexy Money" – ABC

10. "Leverage" – TNT

• Republicans ages 18 to 49

1. "Deadliest Catch" – Discovery

2. "J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life" – ABC

3. "Wipeout" – ABC

4. "Raising the Bar" – TNT

5. "Army Wives" – Lifetime

6. "The Closer" – TNT

7. "America's Got Talent" – NBC

8. "The Bachelorette" – ABC

9. "Eli Stone" – ABC

10. "Mental" – Fox