WASHINGTON -- A Gallup poll released Monday found that Republicans do indeed get more of their news from conservative-infused talk radio than do Democrats.
The survey, conducted in early December, reported that 29% of Republicans surveyed tuned into talk radio, compared with 15% of Democrats.
In analyzing the GOP's sweep in the November 2002 national election, political pundits have been pointing to the increasing reach of conservative radio hosts.
Gallup survey concluded that there has been a significant spike in the number of Republicans turning the dial to the likes of talkshow host Rush Limbaugh on a daily basis.
In 1999, only 12% of the Republicans surveyed said they listened to talk radio everyday. In Monday's poll, that number shot up to 22%.
Overall, however, the Gallup poll found that most Americans -- regardless of political persuasion -- rely mostly on local TV stations and newspapers for their daily diet of news.
The survey also made it clear that while Republicans are turning to talk radio in greater numbers, they still get the majority of their news from other outlets, including network news broadcasts, 24-hour cable nets and newspapers.
Democrats and Republicans were in a dead heat when it came to public radio, according to the survey.
Gallup's poll did not differentiate between cable news nets, meaning it didn't track the partisan breakdown of viewers tuning into CNN, MSNBC and the more conservative Fox News Network.
Over the past year, CNN has been scrambling to catch up with Fox in terms of audience numbers.
Contact Pamela McClintock at
pamela.mcclintock@variety.com