Survey Says: Chuck Fan Survey 3.0 Results

Following the conclusion of Chuck season 4, we launched the third Chuck Fan Survey to take the pulse of the fandom and compare it to previous results. (survey 1.0, survey 2.0)

General Overview

2131 people took the survey, compared to 2574 in May 2010 and 1507 in November 2009. This represents about 1% of the average visitors per month to ChuckTV.net during season 4 (around 219,000/mo – forum visitors not included), the same percentage who answered the poll in May 2010.

Of those 2131 people, 61.4% were male and 38.6% were female, a slightly higher percentage of females than we’ve had represented in the previous polls. Perhaps because this season featured Chuck and Sarah together? The results show that Chuck skews more male than female, however, consistent with previous results and NBC’s ratings data.

The age breakdown shows some fluctuation, probably because time marches on and birthdays insist on appearing with alarming regularity. As in previous years, the 18-24 demographic were most represented with 32.3% of respondents falling into that age range. Another 17.7% were 25-30 and 12.9% were under 18, meaning 62.9% of those polled were 30 or younger. This is down from 66.6% in May 2010. Rounding out the demographic data, 8.8% were 31-35, 7.9% were 36-40, 7.8% were 41-45, 5.1% were 46-50, 6.8% were 51-60, 0.7% were 61-70, and a lone respondent – representing 0.1% of the total – was over 71 years old. Of those age ranges, all of them saw percentage increases of May 2010’s numbers except the 31-35 demo which dropped 0.2%. What does this tell us? The (online) Chuck fanbase is aging themselves right out of Nielsen consideration. We need those under 18’s have a birthday!

We again note that because this is an online survey, on a fansite, the odds of reaching older viewers is much lower than reaching younger.

Not every person answered every question, but the bulk of respondents did complete the survey. In the case of Question 6, respondents only saw that question if they answered “Yes” on Question 5. Each question except Question 4 was restricted to one answer per respondent. Click the charts to see larger versions.

Question 1: Which element of Chuck is the main reason you watch?

On a show like Chuck that combines action, romance, drama, comedy, and more pop culture references than the number of licks it takes to get to the middle of a Tootsie Pop, a consistent debate within the fandom is what the main focus of the show is or should be. After months of reading and listening to these debates, it’s interesting to see quantitative data measuring such a subjective item.

Our first poll saw the Chuck and Sarah romance taking the top spot here, while the second poll gave the honor to Team Bartowski in a narrow victory. This time, Chuck and Sarah are back on top with 37.9% of the vote. Not surprising given that their relationship, engagement, and wedding were a major theme this season. Team Bartowski fell to second with 31% of people indicating it was the main reason they watch, followed by The Comedy in a distant third with 10.4% and The Hero’s Journey in fourth with 6.9%.

These four elements have been the top four in all three surveys, which would support a theory that the relationship between Chuck and Sarah, the dynamics of Team Bartowski, the comedy elements, and Chuck’s hero’s journey are the core of the show for the bulk of viewers. Bringing up the rear are Morgan The Magnet with 0.5% and The Buy More with 0.4% of the votes.

Question 2: Rank the various elements of Chuck by MOST favorite to LEAST favorite.

The tough questions continued as we forced fans to rank the elements. Answers were restricted so only one could be ranked at 10 (MOST favorite), one at 9, etc. The results fall in line with Question 1, but show some movement compared to May 2010.

Not surprisingly, the Chuck and Sarah relationship topped the list as Most favorite with 41% of respondents giving it a 10. This is slightly higher than the 39% given last time, and a full 3.1% more than the same element received in Question 1. Another 4% voted it their least favorite element.

Team Bartowski tumbled dramatically from last May’s results with only 25.3% giving it their vote as favorite element (compared to 35% last time). A victim of the the focus on other elements this season? Once again The Comedy and The Hero’s Journey came in third and fourth, respectively. The Buy More has the dubious distinction of being least favorite with a whopping 48.4% of respondents giving it a 1 out of 10. Let’s hope Team Bartowski can increase customer satisfaction next season.

Question 3: Rank these season 4 developments in order of MOST favorite to LEAST favorite.

Surprising no one, Chuck and Sarah get married won this category hands down with 45.8% of the vote. It almost felt unfair to put anything else up against that long-awaited event. In distant second was Sarah goes all Phase 3 on The Belgian with 26.1% of voters ranking it their second-favorite development. Third place went to Ellie’s discovery of Chuck’s secrets and fourth to Mama B’s return.

Anyone who’s been following fan discussions post-finale won’t be surprised to see that Morgan downloading the Intersect was marked least favorite by a majority 38.1% of voters, but 7.8% ranked it their most favorite development. It’s interesting the note that the forced ranking also meant that Roan Montgomery’s return also earned more “1” (i.e. least favorite) votes than it did any other ranking. It’s also surprising that none of the elements earned a majority 5 or 7 ranking. In other words, either we really liked something, or we really didn’t.

Question 4. Which season 4 guest stars were your favorite(s)?

This is a new question for this year, and multiple answers were allowed. Even so, Timothy Dalton ran away with this category with 87.3% of the vote. I think it’s safe to dub him a “fan favorite”. Linda Hamilton took second place with 64.8% of the votes as Mama B and Gary Cole’s return as Jack Burton came in a close third with 62.8%. We missed you, Sarah’s Dad!

Mekenna Melvin and John Larroquette/Mini Anden (in a virtual tie) round out the top 5. It’s worth noting that the sixth place spot went to Millicent Martin with 38.6% of votes. Who’s that? Mrs. Winterbottom, the mother Casey wished he had. Way to make an impression! Ana Gasteyer’s turn as Dasha, with whom Chuck had a tiny weapons stand off, came in last with just 2.1% of votes.

Question 5: Do you feel strongly enough about any element of Chuck to STOP watching if the storyline doesn’t go the way you want?

We like this question as a way to find out if all that “line in the sand” talk is legit. Would you, really, quit watching the show over a storyline? Responses continue to fluctuate from survey to survey. This time, 85.3% said no, they don’t feel strongly enough about any element to quit watching if it doesn’t go their way. This is down from last May when 86.5% answered no. We’ll see what polarized people in Question 6. In case you haven’t already done the math, that means 14.7% of respondents said yes, they would stop watching if something didn’t go the way they wanted.

Question 6: If you answered yes to question 5, which element?

Of the 14.7% who answered yes to Question 5, 53.3% said that the Chuck and Sarah relationship is the element that would cause them to quit watching the show if it doesn’t go the way they want. That’s a significant drop compared to the 72.4% from May 2010 and 86% from November 2009. Apparently Chuck just needed to put a ring on it!

In second place was Morgan the Magnet with 18.4% concerned about that storyline. Frankly, given the uproar from parts of the fandom after the finale, we expected Morgan to get the majority of the votes here. The Hero’s Journey came in a distant third with 7.4%. In May 2010, Team Bartowski and The Comedy were second and third, respectively.

Remember that these percentages are from the 14.7% who answered “Yes” on Question 5, not the 2,131 overall respondents.

Question 7: How do you feel about spoilers?

As we’ve said before, we try to strike a balance when it comes to posting spoilers because we know that not everyone likes them, and even those who do may not want everything spoiled. The results of this question are fairly consistent with previous years: 48.6% said they love spoilers while 33.1% said they don’t seek them out but will read them. Another 16.6% say they hate spoilers and 1.7% don’t trust them.

Conclusions

What can we learn from these numbers? Online Chuck fandom, at least, still skews young and male although the females and older age groups are trending upward. This season the Chuck/Sarah relationship regained dominance in fan focus, and on the show itself. Fewer people are worried about that relationship being mishandled from a fan perspective and fans are really glad the two are finally married. We liked seeing more of Sarah, Morgan’s new abilities (?) are cause for concern, and we loved Timothy Dalton. We liked having familiar faces return, and parents are especially welcome.

This survey was conducted by ChuckTV.net and measured opinions of fans who visit our site. It was not endorsed, sponsored, or affiliated with NBC, College Hill, Wonderland Sound and Vision, or anyone associated with Chuck.