Are you itching to see this year’s Olympic BMX? Or impatient to watch some live action judo? If so, you’re probably a millennial Democrat, unlikely to show up to the polls.
But if your gaze is fixated on swinging rackets, you might be a die-hard Republican baby boomer up at the crack of dawn on Election Day.
What Olympic sport you prefer could reveal everything about your political views according to a survey by Deep Root Analytics, a data firm that consults marketers on targeting TV ads.
“It’s very expensive to advertise on the Olympics, so having as much information as possible about the political underpinnings of the Olympics’ viewership is extremely helpful to marketers as they plan their media buy,” said Alex Lundry, Deep Root Analytics’ co-founder and chief data scientist.
Since millennials are the largest living generation, you would think political TV ads would aggressively target their favorite Olympic sports, but they’re not.
According to the Pew Research Center, only 50 percent of eligible millennial voters cast a ballot in the 2008 presidential election, and in 2012, it was an even less impressive millennial turnout. It’s a complete wildcard if this newest generation of voters will get off their Pokémon Go and hit the polls this November.
So it should come as no surprise that political ads will be directed towards older folks who are more prone to watch track and field and gymnastics. After all, they vote and they pay for cable.
More than 6,500 hours of Olympic events will be aired over the next two weeks with only smidgen of them streamed online, making it more difficult for millennials to watch. USA TODAY reported 70 percent of millennials use streaming services like Netflix and Amazon, while only 64 percent have TV subscriptions. And, one-fourth of this youthful generation has never had TV. NBC plans on streaming the Olympics for non-subscribers, but after a 30-minute grace period you can forget about not paying. You’ll be forced to log on with your television provider, so kiss blissful streaming goodbye and say hello to overcrowded couch parties.
But there’s good news -- even though iPhone and iPad streaming is preferred by millennials, according to Adweek they would rather watch the Olympics on a big screen to capture the full experience. So whether they like it or not, millennials will be stuck watching ads targeted towards baby boomers, generation X, and traditionalists.
Lundry couldn’t urge campaigns enough to have a strong “sense of what their audiences are viewing during the Olympics so that they can be smart about how they advertise.”
Maybe if the millennial generation gets their voting act together, future political ads aired on the Olympics will revolve around their sport preferences, rather than the preferences of their parents and grandparents. But until that day comes, older generations will continue dominating the political culture and seating our politicians, not just making noise about it.