Welcome to your daily report and commentary from the intersection of Faith &
Media.

A study by the the consumer research firm Experian Simmons finds that America’s political (and, perhaps, religious) divide expresses itself interestingly in an entertainment divide — particularly involving what Republicans (most likely conservatives) and Democrats (most likely liberals) watch on television. Story.

Interestingly, according to the study, the gay-friendly (also witty and humane) sitcom Modern Family appears to be somewhat more popular with supposedly homophobic conservatives than with (also supposedly) more tolerant liberals who, for some reason, apparently like the Showtime’s serial killer-as-hero crime drama Dexter more than conservatives do.

Overall, Republicans seem to prefer more traditional fare while Democrats prefer edgier shows featuring damaged, often amoral (or, in the case of Dexter, immoral) characters. (Though it should be noted that the raunchy Two and a Half Men is liked by slightly more Republicans than Democrats).

If you just go by overall ratings, the conservative shows are more popular than the liberals ones. In other words, a network made up of the shows preferred by conservatives would handily beat one made of those liked by liberals (perhaps offering an indication of where America is politically).

In our house, we tend to tilt toward the conservative side of the entertainment (and political) ledger. We don’t watch much prime-time TV these days (finding most of it unwatchable) but we are fairly regular viewers of The Amazing Race, V and Dancing with the Stars.

While we don’t catch much of either Glenn Beck or Keith Olbermann, we do watch a lot of Bill O’Reilly —  as well as Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert (funny is funny). We also tend to have HGTV, Food Network and the Travel Channel on a lot, for whatever that tells the researchers. 

Here’s the chart. So, what do you think about the list and what, if anything, it says about the way Republicans and Democrats view the world?