Key Points
- A Magid study finds C-SPAN’s audience is nearly evenly split between self-identified progressives and conservatives, with most viewers calling themselves moderates.
- The findings mirror prior Ipsos and Hart Research studies showing C-SPAN attracts a politically balanced audience.
- C-SPAN says its cable channels, website and apps reach more than 90 million Americans.
Political affairs network C-SPAN has developed a politically-diverse audience that strikes a balance between self-reported progressive and conservative viewers and website users alike, according to a new research report released by Magid this week.
The study shows C-SPAN’s audience is near-evenly split between those who identify as liberal or progressive and those who identify as conservative, with a 1 point difference between the two. The majority of C-SPAN’s audience — slightly more than 40 percent — identify as moderate, while a small fraction say they don’t know where they fall on the political spectrum.
C-SPAN shared the findings of the study with reporters via e-mail on Wednesday. The network says its cable multiplex, website and digital apps have an audience of more than 90 million Americans.
C-SPAN does not air advertising on its cable networks, which are entirely funded by pay television companies like DIRECTV, Dish Network, Comcast’s Xfinity and Charter’s Spectrum. Its website allows users to donate to support its ongoing operations, and non-cable subscribers see a limited amount of advertising before streaming clips from C-SPAN programming online.
The Magid report released this week tracks along other studies from firms like Ipsos and Hart Research, which showed C-SPAN’s audience is nearly balanced along party lines.
“At a time when Republicans, Democrats, conservatives, and liberals have sorted themselves into media environments of largely like-minded thinkers, C-SPAN stands out as a rare exception: a place where conservatives and liberals watch in similar numbers. In today’s polarized media environment, such balance is increasingly rare,” a spokesperson for C-SPAN said in a statement.
On streaming, C-SPAN is available via DIRECTV in its Signature plans and in the MyNews genre-based package. The multiplex is coming soon to YouTube TV and Hulu with Live TV.
