Clinton & Obama should “listen up” before more ad spend

When building out their upcoming ad plans, campaigns should also consider which new media potential voters are using most often. According to the analysis, the top three used most among Democrats, Republicans and Independents include cell phones, video gaming and instant messaging.

New media is a big part of Libertarians’ lives as well with 37.6% regularly or occasionally blogging, while 26.9% of Democrats, 25.7% of Independents and 22.9% of Republicans are doing so.

Regarding traditional media, the analysis of the survey shows that potential voters spend more time watching Cable than Broadcast TV, another significant finding that can be used in upcoming strategy sessions.

45.8% of Republicans, 45.6% of Democrats, 57.6% of Libertarians and 46% of Independents say they spend more time watching cable stations than traditional broadcast networks. Conversely, 36.7% of Republicans, 34.2% of Democrats, 37.5% of Libertarians and 34% of Independents say they watch traditional broadcasts more. The remaining says they watch equal amounts of cable and network broadcasts:

Republicans (17.6%), Democrats (20.2%), Libertarians (4.9%) and Independents (20%).

The study also identified the cable networks and radio formats of choice by political party. Discovery Channel and The History Channel made their way into the top five for all groups. Fox News was #3 on the list for Republicans; however, no other cable news channel made the top five for any of the other parties.