• by P.J. Bednarski , Staff Writer @pjbtweet, January 9, 2017

How easily online content providers have slipped into the mainstream.

Just three years ago, the presence of programming from Netflix, Amazon and Hulu on awards shows like last night's Golden Globes was considered a sign those services had arrived, shoulder to shoulder with HBO.

For millions of people, even the television portion of the Golden Globes (and much of the Emmys) must seem irrelevant and bewildering as they don’t subscribe to Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO or other pay services.

Yet it’s always difficult to figure who in the world is watching what on the streaming services, even if they have them. Netflix and Amazon don't say.

An Internet service, Highspeed Internet.com, claims to have cross-referenced the top 75 TV shows on Netflix with data from Google Trends, place by place, to determine which of those shows would be likely to be the most popular in every state in these barely United States of America.

This, I have a feeling, is far from scientific, but not far at all from having-fun-with-data-mining.

For example, the author of the report, Kaz Weida discerns that the “top 10 conservative states” as previously sorted out by the Gallup Organization, prefer “either "Scandal," which is a decidedly R-rated affair, or "Gilmore Girls’"and "Stranger Things," which is PG fodder. There was little to no in-between, suggesting religious and more traditional populations have a secret taste for sin or a predictable penchant for family-friendly fare.”

(If this is correct, “Scandal” is far more popular on Netflix than I’ve thought. It is the favorite TV show in a leading nine states. I wonder if the rights fees reflect that.)

Going on, she notes, “States like Arizona and Alaska, where the incarceration rate is particularly high, love ‘Orange is the New Black,’ perhaps because quite a few residents are no stranger to the inside of a cell.”

In a portion of her report subtitled,  “Annie Get Your Gun. Here come the Zombies” Weida notes that “West Virginia and Wyoming both like zombie-themed content, with its emphasis on doomsday scenarios. Both states also fall neatly into the most guns per capita category, so if and when the zombiepocalypse comes, they’ll be ready."

West Virginia likes “American Horror Story.” Wyoming likes “iZombie.”

The Web site includes a map with likely favorites--in New York and California, the winner is “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” which, if I may apply my own pop theories, is either because of its unique blend of comedy and music or because the series seems especially like a documentary in those states. (Or possibly because series creator and star Rachel Bloom plays a New York lawyer who moves to California)  

Ditto “Making of a Murderer” does well in the Midwest — it happened in Wisconsin. Oregon loves “Portlandia,” and Indiana is fond of “Parks and Recreation.”

I wonder what’s going on in Kansas.

pj@mediapost.com