For many, keeping up with political news in 2016 is like a second full time job. Between the Clinton Wikileaks releases and the daily barrage of Trump tales, it takes some effort — and some patience, since so much of the “news” is focused on personality issues rather than policy stances.
Registered voters are trying to stay in the know. Recent research revealed that nearly two-thirds of U.S. mobile users said “it’s at least somewhat important to keep up with political news on multiple devices.”
When Opera Mediaworks polled 1,500 U.S. mobile users who keep up with political news, the firm discovered that nearly one in four said using multiple devices is very important. Adding in the people who said partaking in multichannel news consumption was “important” or “somewhat important” raised the percentage to 63 percent.
So, where are political news consumers getting their daily dose? Apparently, TV still reigns in this arena.
“When it comes to their preferred device for researching a political candidate, the largest share of mobile users said they preferred to do so via TV,” notes eMarketer. “Some 23 percent said they prefer to learn about a political candidate or campaign via desktop, while fewer said they prefer to research on their mobile devices.”
A YuMe study confirmed the TV lock on political information. Its survey showed that 69 percent of U.S. internet users find TV news to be the most effective political marketing channel. And a Lab42 survey found that TV news and TV debates are still the primary ways in which US internet users research and learn about political candidates prior to elections.
In sum, though people are doing much more on mobile — banking, shopping, watching videos, planning vacations, and more — when it comes to politics, TV is the go-to.
The surveys do show that’s changing, but oh, so slowly — kind of like politics itself.
