Study: YouTube Videos From New Hampshire Primary Race Favor Ron Paul, Cast Doubt on Front-Runner Clinton

Market Wire, November, 2007

Voters have even more opportunities to see the presidential candidates campaign in New Hampshire as the primaries approach thanks to online video sharing, says one New Hampshire media research firm, which has seen YouTube videos about the contenders' activity in New Hampshire increase to more than three hundred per month.

KDPaine and Partners, a media measurement firm, has been tracking the candidates since January in YouTube videos that mention New Hampshire, its home state and host of the first in the nation primary. Republican hopeful Ron Paul is ahead online, attracting more than three million views of his videos within seven days of posting them to the posted. Paul's videos account for half of the top 10 most-viewed videos in the study.

John McCain's reply, "thanks, you little jerk," at a stump speech in New Hampshire to a question about his age, was the most-viewed of any video. It was watched more than 300,000 times.

"While we won't know the final answer until January, what we do know is that there is very little relationship between what people who answer their phones tell the pollsters, and the activity of people who vote on and rate videos on YouTube," said Katie Delahaye Paine, CEO and head of the research project.

Videos posted by the campaign of front-runner Hillary Clinton were among the least favorably rated among the democratic candidates by YouTube users, who score each video on a one to five scale. Clinton's videos received an average rating of 3.47, compared to 4.80 for videos posted by Paul's campaign and 4.61 for videos posted on the Edwards campaign's channel.

"This is probably the most-recorded primary in history. You don't have to live in New Hampshire any more to see the candidates speaking at meetings here. It's like everyone is a resident," added Paine, who lives in Durham.

With access to as many as 400 videos in a month, Paine has found that users tend to watch the same clips. Less than 10 percent of videos account for 80 percent of views, a trend that is also true among the different YouTube channels. YouTube members have their own channels, to which they post videos. The most-watched channels include those of the Paul, Edwards and Obama campaigns, and of advocacy group MoveOn.org.

Readers can access the data behind the study at http://www.diydashboard.com , with user name youtube and password kdpaine.

About KDPaine and Partners

KDPaine and Partners is a New Hampshire-based consultancy that provides plans, products and services that help Public Affairs and Marketing professionals measure their success and make better, more informed decisions for their organizations. For more information about KDPaine and Partners, go to http://www.measuresofsuccess.com .

Available Resources

CHART: Videos of Top Candidates Over Time
CHART: Total Views Per Candidate
CHART: Share of Total Views
CHART: Share of Total Videos
FACT SHEET: YouTube and the New Hampshire Primary

Contact: Katie Delahaye Paine (603) 682-0735 Email Contact