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away age lines
Audience drops to 44.7 years in fourth quarter
By Kevin Downey
Just as the American population continues to get older, advertisers and the media outlets selling to them continue a seemingly losing battle to court the young.
It’s a battle, however, that is being won in small increments by the broadcast networks, according to an analysis of Nielsen Media Research data released yesterday by Magna Global USA.
Collectively, the broadcast networks dropped their median age three-tenths of a year in fourth quarter, compared to the same time last year, while the median age of the overall television audience dropped a half-year.
Every broadcast network, with the exception of the oldest-skewing CBS, brought its median age down, with the six major networks dipping from 45 to 44.7 years, the lowest it has been since fourth quarter 1999.
The reason, or at least the theory behind the push for the young, is a familiar but compelling one for companies trying to sell their products or services. Young consumers are believed to be more willing to try new brands and, more important, as they age they remain loyal to those brands.
“That’s not true anymore,” says Steve Sternberg, senior vice president and director of audience analysis at Magna.
“But younger viewers are harder to reach than older viewers, so the networks can charge more because it’s a more difficult audience to reach.”
The broadcast networks don’t exclusively go after young viewers - older and more affluent viewers are targeted by many advertisers with programs like NBC’s “Law & Order” franchise.
But a number of changes to the broadcast lineups have brought in younger viewers.
Among the biggest of changes is the loss of primetime’s short-lived game show genre, led by “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” on ABC and, to a lesser degree, “Weakest Link” on NBC.
“Millionaire’s” multiple episodes had some of the oldest audiences on all of primetime, with a median age well over 50 years.
One of “Weakest Link’s” time slots was given over to the reality show “Fear Factor,” which has a median age 9 years younger than that for the game show.
That programming switch points to one of the reasons behind the networks’ younger viewers – reality shows.
“That has a lot to do with it because those shows skew younger than other types of programs,” says Sternberg.
“CBS was able to reach younger viewers with ‘Survivor’ and ‘Amazing Race.’ There is no reason why a show like ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ would skew older than ‘Frasier,’ but it did. That show got a bit younger when CBS promoted it on its reality shows.”
Magna found that reality programs, like the “Jamie Kennedy Experiment” on the WB, “Fear Factor” on NBC and “The Bachelor” on ABC had some of the lowest median ages in primetime. “Jamie’s” average viewer was under 28 years old, while the other two shows had audiences with median ages of 35 and 37 years, respectively.
Still, the networks were also able to drop their median ages with scripted programs, notably on ABC, which at 2 years had the biggest decline of any network in the past year, to 43.1 years.
It filled up many of “Millionaire’s” vacated time slots with sitcoms, another genre that does a good job of reaching the young.
Moreover, outside of “The Wonderful World of Disney,” ABC’s five youngest-skewing shows are all relatively new. “The Bachelor,” “George Lopez,” and “Alias” all have audiences with a median age of under 40 years. “My Wife & Kids” and “Life with Bonnie” are next with audiences younger than 42 years.
ABC also had the biggest jump in teen ratings in fourth quarter with an increase of 0.4 rating points.
The overall drop in median age for the broadcast networks is also partially attributable to the ratings increases at the WB, the youngest-skewing network with a median age of 30.6 years.
The WB is the only network to post a year-over-year gain in its household rating and had the biggest increase among adults 18-49.
Still, while the networks have been making headway in the younger demographic, Sternberg notes that at least part of the decline in median ages might be due to adjustments Nielsen made to reflect data from the 2000 census.
“It’s hard to pinpoint the impact that has had but certainly if the TV universe has gotten younger, it will have some impact,” he says.
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MEDIAN AGE - BROADCAST
NETWORKS |
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|
Fourth Quarter |
Median Age in Years |
6-Network |
TV Universe |
|||||
|
ABC |
CBS |
NBC |
FOX |
UPN |
WB |
Average |
Average |
|
|
1995 |
40.1 |
49.8 |
41.0 |
31.4 |
36.5 |
22.7 |
41.2 |
35.3 |
|
1996 |
40.4 |
51.2 |
40.9 |
33.2 |
34.9 |
25.5 |
42.0 |
35.6 |
|
1997 |
40.8 |
52.6 |
40.4 |
32.9 |
32.4 |
24.2 |
42.0 |
35.9 |
|
1998 |
41.8 |
52.5 |
43.0 |
34.2 |
37.4 |
26.6 |
43.3 |
36.2 |
|
1999 |
41.7 |
53.2 |
45.1 |
33.8 |
31.9 |
28.8 |
44.0 |
36.5 |
|
2000 |
46.1 |
52.5 |
45.0 |
35.0 |
33.6 |
28.9 |
44.8 |
36.8 |
|
2001 |
45.1 |
51.4 |
46.2 |
36.4 |
33.8 |
30.7 |
45.0 |
37.0 |
|
2002 |
43.1 |
51.5 |
45.7 |
35.4 |
33.3 |
30.6 |
44.7 |
36.5 * |
|
Net Change (2002 vs. 2001) |
-2.0 |
0.1 |
-0.5 |
-1.0 |
-0.5 |
-0.1 |
-0.3 |
-0.5 |
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* Reflects
Nielsen population estimates adjusted for 2000 census |
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January 8, 2003© 2003 Media Life
-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life.
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