Voters Look Online For Candidate Information

An average of around 30 percent of U.S. adult Internet users say they will watch online video news to learn about the 2008 presidential candidates, according to a survey conducted by Synovate for ClipBlast.

"These findings unquestionably affirm the rise of the video Web in public life," said Gary Baker, CEO of ClipBlast!. "What’s more, we believe that online video is engaging new audiences and drawing new [and] otherwise disaffected or disinterested viewers."

An average of 21 percent of respondents said they would watch debates online, and an average of 7 percent said they would visit video bloggers for information.

Traditional media will benefit too. The Television Advertising Bureau projects that spot TV advertising spending will grow about 15 percent in 2008, largely because of ads for the elections and the Olympic Games.

Over 8 in 10 respondents to the ClipBlast study said they would get their information about the candidates from TV and radio. Newspapers and magazines were cited by 63 percent of likely voters.

In a separate study of U.S. adult Internet users by BurstMedia, 25 percent of respondents considered the Internet the best source for information on the candidate’s positions. Twenty-one percent cited TV, 17 percent said newspapers and 6 percent favored radio.