Posted on 11/19/2006 8:53:37 PM PST by Snickering Hound
NEW YORK — Americans born between 1946 and 1964 are accustomed to being catered to, but that's not the case with much of television today. Now there's some new evidence that they're finding this mighty irritating.
A study conducted by Harris Interactive suggests that the television industry's obsession with youth is backfiring.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they believe that most TV programming and advertising is targeted toward people under 40, the survey said. More than 80 percent of adults over 40 say they have a hard time finding TV shows that reflect their lives.
A significant number of baby boomers — 37 percent — say they aren't happy with what's on television, according to the study.
"The amount of people dissatisfied with television overall was a pretty big eye-opening thing for us," said Larry Jones, president of the TV Land cable network, which commissioned the study.
To a certain extent, the generation that decades ago warned against trusting people over 30 can blame itself for the predicament. The TV industry's slavish devotion to ratings within the 18-to-49-year-old demographic started when most baby boomers fit into that group.
The theory among advertisers is that it's important to reach young people as their preferences are forming — get them hooked on a certain toothpaste or soda early and they'll be hooked for life. Advertisers will pay a premium for young viewers: $335 for every thousand people in the 18-to-24 age range that a network delivers, for example. Viewers aged 55-to-64 are worth only $119 for every thousand, according to Nielsen Media Research.
That's why ABC and NBC conduct all of their business with advertisers in the 18-to-49 demo. From a financial standpoint, if you're 50 or over, you mean nothing to those networks' executives. For Fox, the CW, MTV, BET and countless other networks, even 40 is too old.
The peak year for births within the baby boom, Jones noted, was 1957 — meaning all those people are turning 49 this year.
Much of the television industry isn't aging with them.
"They've just never changed or haven't realized that the population has moved on," said Randy Berkowitz, vice president of research for Combe Inc., which makes health products and beauty aids.
Berkowitz believes that "people are just not in tune with TV because they can't relate to it anymore."
Jones, who's 46, said he wants to come home at night and see an entertainment program that appeals to his sensibilities. Some people may find Paris Hilton funny on "The Simple Life," for example — not him.
To a surprising extent, advertising is also alienating. The Harris Interactive study found that half of baby boomers say they tune out commercials that are clearly aimed at young people. An additional one-third said they'd go out of their way NOT to buy such a product.
"I'm not saying that every show, every network should reshape, but that's an awfully high level of dissatisfaction among the largest generation group of all time," said Ken Dychtwald, a psychologist who worked with Harris Interactive on the study. (Harris conducted an online survey of 4,220 adults between April 28-May 15 this year, with a sampling error of plus or minus 1.5 percent).
Some advertisers have responded to the aging population. Financial services firms, for example, see many potential customers advancing toward retirement. Two decades ago drug companies didn't advertise on TV; now you could fill a medicine cabinet with all the products hawked on the evening news.
But these were cases where the companies making these products saw the opportunity, not necessarily the TV industry, Berkowitz said.
TV Land's Jones is already using the survey in his business. The results have convinced him that, more than ever, his network of mostly classic TV shows should be boomer-centric, he said. He also comes armed with the survey when he meets with the Madison Avenue types who buy advertising time.
One statistic he's sure to cite: The survey found 51 percent of the postwar generation describe themselves as "open to new ideas." Meanwhile, only 12 percent of young adults think the older folks feel that way.
Why does that matter? Jones said the average media buyer or planner is under 30. Many are undoubtedly hired for their know-how in appealing to a specific generation, and it isn't the baby boomers.
"There is this huge perception versus reality situation in the marketplace," he said.
Jones is pushing the idea of a "middlescence," about 40-to-59-year-olds who don't feel young anymore but don't feel old, and have plenty of discretionary income.
With the continued carving of the television audience into smaller slices because of all the networks on the air, the chance for advertisers to reach particular niches increases, said Evan Shapiro, who had his own marketing firm and is now head of the Independent Film Channel. Shapiro, 37, doesn't buy the idea that there's nothing on TV for older viewers.
"If you are a 50-year-old male or female, there is an enormous amount of television for you," he said. "It's just not on all the places that it used to be."
Still, Shapiro said he senses that marketers are slowly waking up to the potential in older TV viewers.
But by the time it happens, the children of the baby boomers will be the focus, making their parents even more irrelevant in television's eyes, he said.
mya hev??? It looks like I'm typing with a bad italian accent!! ;-P
Should read "may have". I guess I'll have to thaw my brain out a little more... Some more coffee should help!
I have EWTN, TV Land, TCM and all the football I can stand. I'm good.
Mark
Back then, there was actually competition, because there were only 2 other channels (with a possible exception of some local stations as well) where advertisers could sell their wares. That's no longer the case. There's not as much "exclusivity," and I think that shows in TV show development. Think about some of the "old time" shows that were on... While there were some real dogs, even they were pretty innovative. And the "good shows" were so much better than anything else on today.
For people who don't think so, I've got 2 " (not so) old time" shows to mention, and just TRY to come up with anything that's been on TV since that even come close:
The Tonight Show, with Johnny Carson. Yes, I know that it's still on, and while Jay Leno is good, NOBODY can come close to Johnny.
The Carol Burnett Show. `nuff said.
Mark
Medium
The Closer
Law & Order
Cold Case
Without a Trace
re-runs, old movies and FX News
I'm geriatric
I was thinking about this yesterday.
Just look at how society has changed.
30 years ago we had country bumpkins such as The Beverly Hillbillies, today we have Borat.
I watch..
History
Discovery
Times
Military
The Unit
Bones
Ghost Hunters
NASCAR and football
Seinfeld reruns
Openly sexual and esp. the gay agenda turns me off.
Every show has to have a token gay or two. Yuck
Never watched a reality show, not one .
That's how I was with "She Spies." My ex-girlfriend used to tell me that every time I watched it, I was killing brain cells. I think that they ruined the series once they brought in a serious "boss" for the girls. The best part of the show (OK, the second best) was just how silly it was. The best part were the girls, Natasha Henstridge, Natasha Williams, and Kristen Miller.
Mark
Wow! You're OLD! I'll bet you can remember when televisions had those round, dial thingees on them, and you had to get out of your chair just to change the channel or turn the volume up or down! Can I call you "Grampa?"
Mark
There used to be a series on the radio in KC, late nights on Friday and Satuday nights, called "When Radio Was," and they'd run the old radio comedies and serials. They were GREAT!
Mark
I bet this number of people disgusted with TV is HUGE with men in general.
Why does ANY male have any reason to watch some left wing feminist scripted tv show which is inundated with female oriented commercials (see Ford is for Divorced Mothers Commercial, or any other men are stupid/feminist is smart commercial.)
There are very very very few things on TV which appeal to men. Even the much vaunted spike TV is just PC toilet humor.
all commercials are suspect
The suzuki commercial where the woman rider trades the male driver her motorcycle for his suv.
The man puts on the WOMAN's jacket! It is small but ridiculous.
Commercials are just a chance to see what else is on.
On the other hand, my wife has been a faithful viewer of Seventh Heaven for years. As if last season's intended series finale wasn't enough of a finger in the eye to viewers, it's as if the producers really didn't want to continue, so they decided to make the characters even more immature, whiney and generally annoying as a means of killing the series off by driving the audience away.
I don't watch much current television: 24, House, American Idol, CSI, Shark, and Numbers is it. (And I wouldn't die if I missed CSI.) I also watch the new Battlestar Gallactica via DVD since I won't pay $30/mo. extra for cable just to get the SciFi channel. I watch way less than I used to -- especially compared to back in the 80s when great shows like Hill St. Blues, LA Law, St. Elsewhere, and Cheers (with Shelley Long) were on the air.
What I do watch a lot is older TV via DVD. It's infinitely more entertaining. And I can't wait for St. Elsewhere to come out on DVD on November 28th!!!!!!!!
I don't know if I like what is on TV - I won't let it in my house!!!!!
If you haven't seen Paradise, I suggest you get the DVD. Don Johnson's terrific in it.
I would bet that a very high percentage of America's most successful people almost never watch TV. They are busy building their own dreams instead of losing themselves in somebody else's. ;)
Oooooooo, I left out Miami Vice!
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