Pew Research Center for the People & the Press
Campaign Internet Videos: "Sopranos" Spoof vs. "Obama Girl"
Made for the Web but Viewed More on TV than Online
Short videos produced for the internet are becoming an important component of campaign news. In some cases, candidates themselves are producing videos and releasing them on their campaign websites. Candidates also are seeing their own gaffes or embarrassing moments packaged in a brief video and put up on the web for all to see. And while these videos originate on the internet, more people are viewing them on TV than online.
This week's News Interest Index poll tested four popular campaign-related videos to measure public awareness of each and to determine where people have seen the videos -- on the internet or on television. Many Americans are aware of these videos, but most report that they have seen them on TV. The four videos included in the poll were Hillary and Bill Clinton's parody of the final episode of "The Sopranos;" a video entitled "I Got a Crush on Obama;" footage of John McCain joking about bombing Iran; and a tape of John Edwards brushing his hair to the tune of "I Feel Pretty." Fully 44% of the public have heard of at least one of the four videos and 27% have seen at least one.
Overall, the video of the Clintons was the most recognized: 32% of the public have heard about the video and 19% have actually seen it. Half as many (16%) have heard about the Obama video, which features a young woman who calls herself "Obama Girl," while 8% have seen this video. Nearly as many (15%) have heard about the John Edwards video and 7% have seen it. Finally, 13% have heard of the McCain video and 6% have seen it. For each of the four videos tested in the poll, more than twice as many say they have viewed them on television as opposed to the internet.
The Clinton video was produced by the Clinton campaign and posted on the campaign's website. Still, it was aired extensively on television news outlets. Fully 15% of the public first saw this video on television while 4% saw it first on the internet; another 13% say they have heard about it but not seen it. Similarly, 6% of the public first saw the Obama video on television, while 2% saw it first on the internet (8% have heard of it but not seen it).
A similar pattern can be seen for the Edwards and McCain videos: 5% say they watched the Edwards video on TV, 2% saw it on the internet. For the McCain video, 5% saw it first on television, 1% saw it on the internet.
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to have heard about both the Clinton and Obama videos. Roughly equal proportions of Democrats and Republicans have heard about the McCain and Edwards videos.
Although the campaign websites and internet videos are often geared toward younger voters, older people are more likely to have heard about three of the four videos – the Clinton video, the McCain video and the Edwards video. In all three cases, people ages 50 and older are more aware of the video than are those under age 50. The Obama video is the only one that all age groups have heard about in roughly equal numbers.