C-SPAN 25th Anniversary News & Information: Hart Research Report

	111th Congress
	Obama Administration
	Supreme Court
	Energy
	Iraq
	Response to Terrorism
	Politics


C-SPAN SERIES

	America & the Courts
	American Perspectives
	Booknotes
	Book TV \| Schedule
	The Communicators
	Newsmakers
	Prime Minister's Questions
	Q&A
	Road to the White House
	Washington Journal


C-SPAN RADIO >>

	Radio \| Schedule
	C-SPAN Radio Specials
	LBJ White House Tapes


OTHER C-SPAN SITES

	American Presidents
	American Writers
	Book TV
	Booknotes
	C-SPAN Classroom
	C-SPAN's Civics Bus
	C-SPAN Video Library
	The Capitol
	Capitol Hearings
	Lincoln 200 Years
	Must Carry
	Politics
	Presidential Libraries
	Q&A
	Students & Leaders
	Tocqueville


NEED HELP?

	Download RealPlayer
	Download Windows Player
	Problems With Video?
	C-SPAN Copyright Policy
	Contact Us

C-SPAN Contacts:
Jennifer Moire, (202) 626-8797 - jmoire@c-span.org

NEW NATIONAL SURVEY: ONE-IN-FIVE CABLE VIEWERS WATCH C-SPAN REGULARLY

Hart Research Reports that C-SPAN, at 25-year mark, is 'Valuable Resource' for Wide Cross-Section of America

—Survey Offers Revealing Portrait of American Attitudes Toward Government—

WASHINGTON, D.C., MARCH 18, 2004–As C-SPAN marks its 25th anniversary on March 19th, a new national survey reports that 20 percent of the cable and satellite viewing audience (an estimated* 34.5 million people) watch C-SPAN 'regularly'—at least once or twice a week.

The non-profit television network created by the cable industry in 1979 and best known for live coverage of the U.S. House and Senate, commissioned Peter D. Hart Research Associates for this national study, conducted in early February 2004. The survey examines the size and scope of the C-SPAN viewing audience, captures public attitudes toward national government and institutions, and offers a snapshot of overall media consumption.

1. THE C-SPAN AUDIENCE

Fully 42 percent of cable/satellite viewers say they have watched C-SPAN in the past six months. Furthermore, the survey found that C-SPAN reaches every segment of the American public. Here is an overview of the demographic findings:

AGE:
�39% are 18-49	�34% are 50-64	�23% are 65+
EDUCATION:
�26% are HS graduates �20% have postgraduate or professional education
INCOME:
�15% have HH incomes under $30K �22% report HH incomes over $75K
GEOGRAPHY:
�21% Northeast	�27% Midwest	�30% South	�21% West
GENDER:
�52% male	�48% female

Political Ideology and Activity: C-SPAN viewers continue to have the high degree of political activity seen in previous national surveys. Eighty-nine percent of C-SPAN viewers say they vote; 40% have contacted elected officials; and, 28% have contributed money to a political campaign. C-SPAN viewers also cover the political spectrum and are fairly evenly divided between the major political parties.

�35% moderate	�22% liberal	�36% conservative
�23% independents	�42% Democrats	�35% Republicans

Those who watch C-SPAN differ from non-C-SPAN viewers in several key areas:

By 33% to 18%, C-SPAN viewers are more likely to be "active citizens" than their non-C-SPAN viewing neighbors.
C-SPAN viewers follow news more closely and are more knowledgeable about government than their neighbors.
C-SPAN viewers have more favorable feelings toward their own congressional representative (57%) than do non-viewers (42%).

"This is not some unusual little group that C-SPAN has collected here," says pollster Peter Hart. "This is a cross-section of America. It is a remarkable picture when you look at it. It gives you a sense of the difference C-SPAN has made."

C-SPAN Seen as 'Valuable Resource' by Viewers and Non-Viewers Alike: Even those who don't watch C-SPAN see its merit. Sixty-seven percent of all respondents judge C-SPAN to be a 'valuable resource." Eighty-three percent of those who watch C-SPAN say it is valuable and 58% believe C-SPAN has improved the way Americans view politics and current events. The survey also asks C-SPAN viewers to rate the network's public affairs programming including its coverage of Congress:

69% of viewers call C-SPAN's coverage of Congress "excellent or very good"
61% say that C-SPAN does an "excellent or very good" job at airing both sides of an argument
60% say that C-SPAN is "excellent or is very good" at providing unbiased coverage

2. PUBLIC ATTITUDES TOWARD GOVERNMENT

To give a sense of the atmosphere in which C-SPAN does its work, the C-SPAN/ Peter Hart survey also explores contemporary American attitudes toward government and institutions. Forty-six percent of all respondents told researchers they agree with the statement, "People like me do not have any say about what the government does."

On a 1 to 10 scale, survey respondents were then asked to rate how much influence certain groups or people have on the decisions made in Washington. Large corporations, large campaign contributors, lobbyists and the news media were all seen as having much larger voices in the legislative process than the public. They believe that the general public has the least influence on the system: just 20% give the public a rating of 7 or higher, meaning that they have a great deal of influence; 35% give a rating of 3 or fewer points indicating that in their view the public has little or no influence.

Degree of Influence on Decisions in Washington DC	% Who Rate 7-10 for Influence
The President	78%
Large campaign contributors	68%
Large corporations	68%
Lobbyists	56%
The news media	53%
Individual members of Congress	42%
The general public	20%
Base: all cable/satellite viewers

In another measure of attitudes toward government, respondents were asked whether the Founding Fathers would be "pleased or shocked" by the way these institutions conduct the public's business:

	Pleased	Shocked
The President	18%	66%
Supreme Court	19%	68%
U.S House & Senate	11%	76%

Seeking a Voice: Survey respondents strongly support reforms which they see as offering them more control and influence over the political decision-making process and for the same reason, reject the idea of eliminating the two term limit on the presidency. "In every area, what we see is that institutions are letting the public down," says Mr. Hart. "By supporting these reforms, in their own way, the public is saying, 'I want to be able to be heard. I want my voice there.'"

	Would Improve Democracy	Would Make Democracy Worse
Congressional Term Limits	66%	12%
Eliminate electoral college	66%	16%
Greater use of ballot referendums	65%	17%
Changing presidential primary system	56%	12%
Removing presidential two-term limit	23%	55%
	Base: all cable/satellite viewers

3. NEWS AND INFORMATION CONSUMPTION

The survey reveals that Americans are grazers when it comes to news and information, sampling from a variety of sources. Most Americans (82% of cable/satellite viewers) tune into a local television newscast at least several times a week. The majority (56%) watch a network television newscast at least that often.

Just one in 10 cable/satellite viewers are "news junkies," defined as following the news very closely and watching, reading, or listening nearly every day to at least five different news sources.

News junkies are more likely to watch C-SPAN-22% watch daily; 42% watch weekly
37% of news junkies use the Internet as a major or secondary source of information
One-in-four read national newspapers and one-in-three listen to national talk radio shows
By more than two-to-one, news junkies are conservative rather than liberal, but they are about evenly divided in identifying themselves as Democrats or Republicans.

Over 88 million homes in the United States currently have access to C-SPAN via cable or satellite. C-SPAN offers public affairs programming in various media, including: three twenty-four hour TV networks—C-SPAN, C-SPAN2, and C-SPAN3; C-SPAN Radio on XM and Sirius satellite radio and on FM in Washington, DC and on the internet at C-SPAN.org. In addition to House and Senate debates, C-SPAN offers a wide variety of public affairs programming, including national political coverage, book programs, history specials and international events.

- 30 -

This survey was conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, Inc., February 2 to 4, 2004 by telephone among 609 cable and satellite television viewers nationwide. An additional oversample of C-SPAN viewers was added to bring the total number of past 6 month C-SPAN viewers to 512. The sample for this poll was drawn using random-digit dialing. One adult, 18 years old or over, from each randomly selected cable and satellite television household was included. For the national sample, the statistical margin of error is +-4.0 percentage points among all cable and satellite television viewers at the 95% confidence level. For C-SPAN viewers, the statistical margin of error is +-4.4 percentage points.


ONLINE PRESS KIT >>

Contest Winners
Read the essays of the 25 contest winners.

Press Releases
Sep. 28, 2005 -- Winners Named in C-SPAN Viewer Essay Contest Marking 25 Years of Viewer Calls

Sep. 14, 2005 -- C-SPAN Marks 25 Years Of Viewer Calls-Ins With LIVE, 25-Hour Call-In Program On Oct. 7

Aug. 17, 2005 -- C-SPAN Marks 25 Years Of Viewer Calls-Ins With LIVE, 25-Hour Call-In Program On Oct. 7

News Articles
The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) - Oct. 10, 2005
Talkers Magazine - Cover Story Oct. 2005
Jewish World Review - Columnist David Brooks, Nov. 1999

History of Call-Ins on Radio and Television
A timeline of call-in programs

Evolution of Call-Ins on C-SPAN
A timeline of call-in programs at C-SPAN

More about C-SPAN's 25 Years of Viewer Call-Ins
Background information on C-SPAN call-in programs

Contact Us
Send e-mails to C-SPAN