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Has Cable Ended the Golden Age of Presidential Television?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Matthew A. Baum  and
Samuel Kernell
Matthew A. Baum
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
Samuel Kernell
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
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Abstract

For the past 30 years, presidents have enlisted prime-time television to promote their policies to the American people. For most of this era, they have been able to commandeer the national airwaves and speak to “captive” viewers. Recently, however, presidents appear to be losing their audiences. Two leading explanations are the rise of political disaffection and the growth of cable. We investigate both by developing and testing a model of the individual's viewing decision using both cross-sectional (1996 NES survey) and time-series (128 Nielsen audience ratings for presidential appearances between 1969 and 1998) data. We find that cable television but not political disaffection has ended the golden era of presidential television. Moreover, we uncover evidence that both presidents and the broadcast networks have begun adapting strategically to this new reality in scheduling presidential appearances.

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Articles
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American Political Science Review , Volume 93 , Issue 1 , March 1999 , pp. 99 - 114
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1999

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