"Studies have shown people listen to TV than watch it"
About this Quote
The appeal to “studies” is doing heavy rhetorical lifting. It’s a credential-shaped shortcut: don’t argue with me about your own habits; data supposedly already settled it. That move fits Carlson’s broader style as a journalist-turned-performer: position a controversial claim as common sense validated by unnamed experts, then use it to justify why messaging matters more than imagery.
The subtext is about power. If people “listen” to TV, then the decisive battleground is narration: the framing voice that tells you what the images mean before you’ve even processed them. It’s also a quiet admission about audience capture. Listening implies passivity and multitasking; it suggests an audience available for continuous, low-effort absorption - ideal conditions for outrage, reassurance, or tribal cues delivered nightly.
Context matters because this is an era of second screens and algorithmic attention. Many viewers “watch” with a phone in hand, so the anchor’s voice becomes the primary interface. Carlson isn’t just describing a habit; he’s defending a strategy: win the ear, and the eye will follow.
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Carlson, Tucker. (2026, January 16). Studies have shown people listen to TV than watch it. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/studies-have-shown-people-listen-to-tv-than-watch-102853/
Chicago Style
Carlson, Tucker. "Studies have shown people listen to TV than watch it." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/studies-have-shown-people-listen-to-tv-than-watch-102853/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Studies have shown people listen to TV than watch it." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/studies-have-shown-people-listen-to-tv-than-watch-102853/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.






