A recent Rasmussen poll found that a clear majority of Americans – 59% -- plan on getting most of their political information from their television sets this year. That number represents the combined total for cable and broadcast sources.
The breakdown of the 59% is 37% cable, 22% broadcast.
The internet is second with 21%. Newspaper and radio trailed, with neither able to break into double digits, pulling responses of 9% and 7% respectively.
Rasmussen noted a sign of the times, and a peek into the future, with the revelation that among those aged 40 or younger; the internet is going to be the primary political news source for 33%.
As for overall internet use right now, 20% use it daily, 17% go there for news several times a week, and 35% rarely or never go there.
Among television news seekers, Republicans and independents are more likely to favor the cable side of the equation, with Democrats divided nearly equally between cable and broadcast.
Mobile is entering the picture as well, according to Rasmussen. 18% now get political updates over a phone or other mobile device, with 18-29-year-olds twice more likely to do so than the 65+ crowd.
RBR-TVBR observation: Many broadcasters and newspapers do an excellent job of reporting on politics. So if the audience is migrating to the web, the simple answer going forward is to make sure you are sitting on the web prominently yourself, waiting for them with your well-produced reporting adapted to the internet environment.
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