The American Viewer: Part 2
Politics, religion and money are taboo topics. Except today
This is the second in my four-part series about the American audience running this week. Yesterday’s story about geography, age, race and gender is here.
One of my favorite political reads of the last year or so was journalist Matthew Yglesias’ quest to help politicians understand that their voters aren’t on Twitter. Specifically, he wrote an article called, “The median voter is a 50-something white person who didn't go to college.”
I liked it so much that this series is a bit of an homage, but for people who make TV and film. We often think we know what America looks like, but our perceptions often don’t match the data. And this gets especially true as things get complicated. Or controversial. What we want to believe is not always a reflection of reality.
Never discuss politics, religion or money at a dinner party? Well that’s exactly what we’re doing today — a sober look at what the data tells us about Americans on the most third-rail issues.
(Tomorrow’s column will be a deep dive into how Americans watch TV.)
Today we’ll cover:
What Americans actually make (and how many likely can’t afford streaming services)
Our nation’s enduring religiosity
Americans’ education level and what it means for programming
Americans’ actual interest in politics — and how few watch political programming
Now let’s get into the juicy stuff: