Common Pursuits of Happiness

Where you live has a lot to do with what you watch on TV, listen to on radio, and pick up off the newsstands. Interep, a radio sales and marketing company, found that people in the Northeast, for instance, are 31 percent more likely to read epicurean magazines than the average U.S. adult. People on the Pacific coast must love their gorgeous ocean views, because they are 36 percent more likely to pick up photography magazines, while boating books do best in the coastal Southeast. When it comes to TV, Westerners leave the westerns to people in the East Central and Southwest regions, who are 28 percent and 33 percent more likely, respectively, to watch that genre than the average American. Folks in the Pacific actually prefer sci-fi fare and animation. On cable, the House and Garden channel makes a big mark in the Southeast, where residents are 32 percent more likely to tune in to see how their gardens grow.