Correction appended
When people are sitting on the sofa watching TV, there is a good chance they will turn on their favorite show.
That favorite show may hail from their state.
The most popular television show in Ohio, according to a study conducted in Oct. by CableTV, is How I Met Your Mother — a situational comedy about five friends living in New York City. One of the characters and the actor who plays him — Josh Radnor as Ted Mosby — are both from Ohio. CableTV is an online resource that helps inform people across the country about cable providers available in their area. It also provides readers with news and entertainment information regarding TV.
CableTV cross referenced the Internet Movie Database’s top 200 television shows with Google trends to find the “most statistically significant, unique TV program in each state,” according to the article. Some students feel the data represents their home state, but most believe the information to be inaccurate.
“I think when you look at the breakdown of what’s popular where, it’s kind of consistent with other research studies. People want to see themselves is the short version,” Houston said. “So it’s not surprising that based on demographics a particular show that features that city, that town, that state, it would be popular in that state. That’s pretty consistent, generally speaking, with a lot of media studies.”
Bailey Fink, a freshman studying journalism, said her favorite show currently on television is Once Upon a Time, but she is not from Uta
“I am obsessed with Disney,” she said. “(Once Upon a Time is) like a Disney show but, like, an older version. I feel like it’s appropriate for me to watch.”
According to the data, Banshee is the most popular show in Pennsylvania. The show about an ex-convict and thief takes place in Pennsylvania, but Fink has not heard of the show. She said a popular show where she is from is Friends.
“I just think it’s so funny, and I feel like it’s relatable even though it’s, like, older,” Fink said. “A lot of my friends (and I), we all watched it together.”
A conclusion reached through the research was people like to watch television shows that feature their state. California’s most popular show is Silicon Valley, Tennessee’s is Nashville, and people in Washington D.C. prefer Scandal.
Houston, who is from Colorado, said he was never a huge fan of South Park, his home state’s most popular show. The creators of the animated comedy are from Colorado, which is also where the show is set.
“I’ve seen it, obviously, but it wasn’t one of those things where I was, ‘Oh, I’ve got to watch this,’ ” he said. “It was never a show that I just had to watch.”
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly spelled Pittsburgh. The article has been updated to show the most accurate information.
