Kids may not be able to vote in the presidential election, but they can give us a pretty good indication of who’s going to win when their parents go to the polls a week and a few days from now: Barack Obama.
That's the winner in the quadrennial Kids Pick the President vote sponsored by kids' cable network Nickelodeon, and odds say he'll also win the election with voting adults.
The winner of the last four out of five Kids Pick polls has gone on to the White House.
But it will be close, a lot closer than many other polls suggest. A record 2.2 million youngsters voted, and Obama won with just 51 percent of the vote, or 1,167,087, while Republican John McCain got 49 percent, at 1,129,945.
The national polls over the past week have shown Obama with anywhere from a 2 percent to a 10 percent advantage.
Nick’s polls were open Oct. 12 to 20, and kids could vote online at Nick.com, through their mobile phones, or on the Nicktropolis virtual world site. Most of the votes came from the 14-and-under set who make up the network's target audience.
What does it say that a bunch of kids have thrown their support behind Obama instead of McCain?
It says they're listening to the talk at home and voting accordingly.
“It's important to take note of who won the kids vote, simply because so many kids vote the way their parents will,” said Nick News host Linda Ellerbee when she announced the results of the poll earlier this week.
Children hear the conversation at the dinner table, and they’ve likely gone with mom or dad to the polls a few times and watched them cast their ballots.
As children get older, they may rebel and drift away from their parent's political views. But the bulk of Nick viewers are below the age of rebellion.
Nick viewers have already picked one phase of this election correctly. In the kids’ primary in January, Obama and McCain trumped their challengers.
The Nickelodeon voters’ only misstep came in 2000, when kids voted Al Gore the winner over George W. Bush. But they weren't far off. In the real election, Bush famously won the electoral college while Gore took the popular vote.
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Meanwhile, in other younger viewer ratings for the week ending Oct. 19:
Among teens 12-17, Fox led with a 1.6 rating and 6 share, followed by CBS and ABC at 1.2/4, Univision at 1.2/4, NBC at 1.0/4, the CW at 1.0/3, Telemundo at 0.3/1, Telefutura at 0.2/1 and Azteca at 0.0/0.
Among kids 2-11, Univision was first with a 1.3/6, followed by ABC at 1.0/4, CBS and Fox at 0.9/4, NBC at 0.8/3, the CW at 0.4/1, Telemundo at 0.3/1, Telefutura at 0.2/1, and Azteca at 0.1/0.
The top five shows among kids 2-5: 1. Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Monday 8 p.m.); 2. Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Monday 7:30 p.m.); 3. Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Monday 7 p.m.); 4. Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Monday 8:30 p.m.); 5. Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Monday 6:30 p.m.)
The top five shows among kids 6-11: 1. Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Monday 8 p.m.); 2. Nickelodeon’s “Mystery Girl” (Saturday 8:30 p.m.); 3. Nickelodeon’s “iCarly” (Saturday 8 p.m.); 4. Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Monday 8:30 p.m.); 5. Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Monday 7:30 p.m.)
The top five shows among kids 9-14: 1. Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Monday 8 p.m.); 2. Nickelodeon’s “Mystery Girl” (Saturday 8:30 p.m.); 3. Nickelodeon’s “iCarly” (Saturday 8 p.m.); 4. Disney’s “Suite Life on Deck” (Friday 8 p.m.); 5. Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Monday 8:30 p.m.)
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TOP 10 PROGRAMS – BROADCAST & CABLE
Kids 2-5
Week Ended Oct. 19 |
|
|
Program |
Net |
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1
|
SPONGEBOB-10/13/2008
|
NICK
|
8.8
|
1436
|
|
2
|
SPONGEBOB-10/13/2008
|
NICK
|
7.4
|
1201
|
|
3
|
SPONGEBOB-10/13/2008
|
NICK
|
7.1
|
1153
|
|
4
|
SPONGEBOB-10/13/2008
|
NICK
|
7
|
1138
|
|
5
|
SPONGEBOB-10/13/2008
|
NICK
|
6.6
|
1079
|
|
6
|
SPONGEBOB-10/13/2008
|
NICK
|
6.3
|
1027
|
|
7
|
SPONGEBOB-10/19/2008
|
NICK
|
5.8
|
945
|
|
8
|
SPONGEBOB-10/13/2008
|
NICK
|
5.8
|
944
|
|
9
|
MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE-10/19/2008
|
DSNY
|
5.5
|
900
|
|
10
|
BACKYARDIGANS, THE-10/14/2008
|
NICK
|
5.5
|
897
|
|
Source: Disney-ABC Television Group, based on data from Nielsen Media Research
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TOP 10 PROGRAMS – BROADCAST & CABLE
Kids 6-11
Week Ended Oct. 19 |
|
|
Program |
Net |
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1
|
SPONGEBOB-10/13/2008
|
NICK
|
11.1
|
2702
|
|
2
|
NBB MOVIE MYSTERY GIRL-10/18/2008
|
NICK
|
8.2
|
1993
|
|
3
|
ICARLY-10/18/2008
|
NICK
|
7.9
|
1928
|
|
4
|
SPONGEBOB-10/13/2008
|
NICK
|
7.8
|
1916
|
|
5
|
SPONGEBOB-10/13/2008
|
NICK
|
7
|
1721
|
|
6
|
SUITE LIFE ON DECK-10/17/2008
|
DSNY
|
7
|
1703
|
|
7
|
WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE-10/19/2008
|
DSNY
|
6.5
|
1582
|
|
8
|
ICARLY-10/15/2008
|
NICK
|
6.4
|
1560
|
|
9
|
SPONGEBOB-10/18/2008
|
NICK
|
6.4
|
1555
|
|
10
|
SPONGEBOB-10/18/2008
|
NICK
|
6.2
|
1504
|
|
Source: Disney-ABC Television Group, based on data from Nielsen Media Research
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TOP 10 PROGRAMS – BROADCAST & CABLE
Kids 9-14
Week Ended Oct. 19 |
|
|
Program |
Net |
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1
|
SPONGEBOB-10/13/2008
|
NICK
|
9.5
|
2329
|
|
2
|
NBB MOVIE MYSTERY GIRL-10/18/2008
|
NICK
|
7.1
|
1732
|
|
3
|
ICARLY-10/18/2008
|
NICK
|
6.9
|
1696
|
|
4
|
SUITE LIFE ON DECK-10/17/2008
|
DSNY
|
6.7
|
1635
|
|
5
|
SPONGEBOB-10/13/2008
|
NICK
|
6.6
|
1607
|
|
6
|
WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE-10/19/2008
|
DSNY
|
6.4
|
1557
|
|
7
|
PHINEAS AND FERB-10/17/2008
|
DSNY
|
5.2
|
1258
|
|
8
|
SPONGEBOB-10/13/2008
|
NICK
|
5.1
|
1249
|
|
9
|
SPONGEBOB-10/14/2008
|
NICK
|
4.8
|
1167
|
|
10
|
ICARLY-10/15/2008
|
NICK
|
4.7
|
1148
|
|
Source: Disney-ABC Television Group, based on data from Nielsen Media Research
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