With cable expecting big political dollars this election season, a survey of CA registered voters shortly after the state’s June 8 primary is ramping up the optimism. In short, if CA is a microcosm for the rest of the country, cable is in a good place to reach swing voters, concluded the survey from Tarrance Group and Lake Research Partners.

 

62% surveyed indicated they watch more cable content while only 29% watch more broadcast. 43% indicate they watch much more cable content. Only 16% of all voters indicated they watch much more broadcast content. More likely to indicate they watch more cable than broadcast are those who self identify as voting in major elections held every two or four years (72%) compared to those who indicate they vote in almost every (59%) or every election (61%).

 

But there are other interesting extrapolations. CA gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman made significant cable ROI buys in the state, with included viewers being able to push a button on their remotes to go straight to her VOD segment or request a bumper sticker. 4% of voters indicated they recalled viewing interactive ads that stated a question and asked them to respond in real time with their remotes. 13% of those voters were able to recall the ads belonged to Whitman. Additionally 9% of all voters said they were very interested in this tech going forward regarding political ads and 23% said they were somewhat interested.

 

When asked how interested they would be in receiving information about campaigns and election through VOD, 18% said very interested and 29% somewhat interested. The most likely to be interested in the feature are minority men (23%), minority women (25%), younger voters—but more specifically women under 55 and those who have kids at home (23%), the survey said.

 

“The Tarrance Group study demonstrates the ability of cable advertising to effectively reach broad and targeted audiences,” said Brian Davis, vp, national sales for Cox Media. “Cox has a comprehensive portfolio of advertising products, including traditional spots as well as long-form video on demand and other interactive formats that foster a deeper level of engagement with voters during this very competitive mid-term election season.”