Washington D.C. isn’t much like the rest of the country – even when it comes to T.V. shows and Facebook.
During Chuck Todd’s ‘Meet the Voters’ tour across the Midwest and South, the NBC team heard the same message again and again: D.C. is just out of touch.
As one Arkansas farmer put it: “A lot of these guys making the laws, they’re so out of touch they have no idea what they’re even making laws over.”
That divide is even evident even in cultural trending data Facebook gave exclusively to NBC News. Facebook handed over lists of the television shows that are disproportionately liked by those in the seven states the ‘Meet the Voters’ tour visited over the last two weeks (Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Arkansas, Georgia and Louisiana) as well as in Washington, DC.
Some shows, no matter where you are in America, transcend cultural and political lines. There were definitely some overlaps in the lists. It seems like everybody in the Midwest really enjoys the Ellen DeGeneres Show. And Steve Harvey’s talk show is beloved throughout the South as well as in DC. (I’s number one on Washington’s list.)
However, some of the television shows on the DC list of likes are just not like the others:
Top television shows disproportionately liked by DC natives compared with other Americans:
1. Steve Harvey TV
2. House of Cards
3. Being Mary Jane
4. Power
5. Scandal
It’s no great surprise that House of Cards and Scandal, both SET in the nation’s capital, pull in a lot of love from the city’s residents. (And it’s evident that the shows have juice elsewhere in the country; just check out this foreboding ad against Kansas independent Senate candidate Greg Orman, mimicking Kevin Spacey’s delightfully conniving character in “House of Cards.”)
But compare the D.C. list to, say, Iowa and North Carolina:
Top television shows disproportionately liked by Iowans compared with other Americans:
1. The Big Bang Theory
2. The Today Show* (NBC thanks you, Iowa!)
3. The Ellen DeGeneres Show
4. Chicago Fire
5. 19 Kids and Counting
Top television shows disproportionately liked by North Carolinians compared with other Americans:
1. Steve Harvey TV
2. Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta
3. Being Mary Jane
4. Party Down South
5. Duck Dynasty
So are the divergent interests of the nation’s TV watchers evidence of why there’s so much dysfunction and disassociation from the voters who really matter around the country?
You might very well think that, but of course, we couldn't possibly comment.
NBC's Carrie Dann contributed.
