It’s a well-known fact that the younger the TV viewer, the tougher it is for marketers to reach them.
    What with school, jobs, friends, the internet and any number of other distractions, young viewers simply watch TV less often than older folks.
    But there’s a new wrinkle to the problem: the TV set is increasingly being used for non-broadcast entertainment that carries little or no advertising, according to a research report by Bates USA.
    And the challenge to advertise to the young is getting tougher as sources like video games, videos, and even the eventual convergence of TV with the internet are accepted in more homes.
    "It’s alternatives, like video games and DVDs, that are pulling them away from the TV, in terms of programming," says Art Tatnell, senior vice president and director of media information and technology at Bates USA.
    "Most of it is not measured by Nielsen and they are not ad supported."
    Video games, for example, are now in 41 percent of homes, which is up 8 percent since last year.
    DVD penetration has doubled to 14 percent and personal video recorders, like TiVo, which allow viewers to bypass commercials and which did not exist a couple of years ago, are now in 6 percent of homes.
    The problem for marketers is particularly pronounced among kids and teens.
    In fact, kids spend about 31 percent of their television time using it for things with little or no advertising. Some six percent of that time goes to public TV, but eight percent goes to pay cable, four percent to video games, and 13 percent to the VCR.
    Teens spend about 23 percent of their time with those sources, although their use of public TV is much less, at one percent.
    But the problem affects adults 18-34 as well. Some 20 percent of their TV time goes to those sources that provide little opportunity for marketers to reach them.
    Perhaps not surprisingly, older consumers are easier targets for marketers. Adults 35-49 only spend 15 percent of their TV time with primarily non-ad-supported sources, while adults over 50 only spend 10 percent of time with those sources.
    The situation seems dire for marketers, but Tatnell says it’s forcing marketers to dig deeper into research sources.
    And, he says, it’s forcing them to be more creative in how they advertise to younger consumers.
   "To reach them, we look at other media, or tie into movies or rock tours, because it’s difficult and expensive to use television.
   "We’re encouraging Nielsen to get a better handle on this because all they capture right now is video games and VCRs," he says. "We should know about the audience of anything hooked up to the TV and understand where the audience is going."
    The overall time spent with the TV is not changing much but the way it’s being used is changing.
    The increased number of viewing options has meant that primetime television, the old guard when it comes to traditional TV viewing, is taking a hit.
    That’s because certain cable networks, in particular, are geared to specific segments of the population. Networks like Nickelodeon, The Cartoon Network, and MTV provide viable programming for kids and young adults all day long.
    Kids now spend only 25 percent of their TV time watching in primetime, which is down 7 percent since 1992. The drop has been 6 percent for teens and 8 percent for adults 18-34 during the same time period.
    Even within the realm of ad-supported television, the ongoing trend has been one in which the youngest viewers have moved away from traditional viewing. They have gone to cable and even independent stations, which include the smaller networks the WB and UPN, at a greater rate than older viewers.
    Kids 2-11, for example, only spend 21 percent of their TV time with the big-four broadcast networks. Adults over 50, in contrast, spend 50 percent of their time with those networks.
    Basic cable is used by kids 37 percent of the time, which is approaching twice the time spent with the networks, while teens use it 34 percent of the time, and adults 18-49 use it about 33 percent of the time.

-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life.

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