One of C3′s research projects this academic year has been a study of the media consumption habits of American college students. I can’t reveal most of our findings (corporate partners get exclusive access to C3 research for a year’s time), but one thing caught my attention, and I wanted to share it.

In one survey we performed, students were asked to name a media property that they were a big fan of (they were primed to consider: TV, movies, bands, games, websites, books, magazines, and comics.) Of the respondents who gave a clear answer, nearly five times as many chose a TV property vs. video games (or movies, for that matter.)

It’s hard to say with any conviction what this really means. Perhaps not much. Or perhaps it indicates that the “best” TV properties still inspire more loyalty, mindshare, and/or emotion than the “best” game franchises. I don’t really know.

Still, this serves as yet another reminder that no matter how much games are chewing into TV consumption time (which, btw, still trumps hourly game consumption), the boob tube remains an important part of people’s lives. And that perhaps more media companies and game developers should be considering the Desperate Housewives route, in order to capitalize on (and enhance) powerful TV fandoms.