Colonel Blimp at Biased BBC has found a fascinating new tool on the YouGov website called YouGov Profiles.
Type in any brand, person or thing and the YouGov database brings up a typical profile for people who like that particular thing, whether it be Barack Obama, rabbits or BBC One's Question Time.
The Colonel tried out "BBC Radio 4".
Following his lead, it appears that the typical BBC Radio 4 listener is over 60, works in education, government & civil service, or civil society & charity, spends£1000+ a month, likes trekking, hiking and bird watching, is most likely to own a cat as a pet, is very into culture and the arts, like cricket, most likes eating dishes such Dal, lentil casserole and jugged hare, shops at Waitrose and John Lewis but buys clothes from Marks & Spencer, banks with the Co-op, is most likely to drive a Skoda, watches University Challenge and Only Connect, and listens to Nina Simone and Leonard Cohen.
Politically, the average BBC Radio 4 listeners is as far to the Left as YouGov's spectrum goes - more strongly left-wing in fact than Labour Party supporters, your average Marcus Brigstocke fan or the readers of Socialist Worker!
As far as Facebook is concerned they like, in descending order:
BBC Radio 438 DegreesThe GuardianUpworthyBBC The ArchersPrivate EyeBring Back British RailBilly BraggLeonard CohenThe Labour Party
In terms of websites visited, they prefer:
thetimes.co.uktate.org.ukguardian.co.uktheguardian.commytimesplus.co.ukpicturehouses.co.ukavaaz.orgnationaltheatre.org.ukclassicfm.comleeds.ac.uk
In terms of Twitter followings, they like:
BBCr4todayBBCRadio4AiannucibengoldacreJeremyJHardyEvanHDMarcusbrigRevRichard Colesmrmarksteelprivateyenews
Their most-read newspapers are (very much in descending order):
The GuardianThe TimesThe Daily TelegraphThe Independent
The people who bring us BBC Radio 4 clearly know their audience, don't they? They seem to cater for them very well too (if not for the rest of the population), perhaps because they are similar kinds of people with similar attitudes and beliefs.
Whether they also help shape those views in the first place is a moot point - and one that many of us must believe to be the case or we wouldn't be writing blogs like this.
Whether they also help shape those views in the first place is a moot point - and one that many of us must believe to be the case or we wouldn't be writing blogs like this.
All in all, there's hours of fun to be had with this YouGov thing Intriguingly, it tells us that people who like the film The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp are almost as left-wing as Radio 4 listeners. People who like blogs, in contrast, tend very strongly towards the Right. It even tells us that people who like YouGov tend slightly to the Right. (What would Peter Kellner make of that?)
And what about the five currrent Today presenters? Who are their typical fans? Well, James Naughtie's fans are quite strongly left-wing, much more so than John Humphrys' fans (who are just slightly to the left-of-centre). Mishal Husain's fans are almost as left-wing as James Naughtie's while Justin Webb's fans are strongly right-wing. (Alas for poor Sarah Montague, she's been forgotten by YouGov!)
And what of PM? Well, Eddie Mair's fans are almost as far-left as it's possible to be on YouGov's spectrum. Typical Radio 4 listeners, you might say!
