Boomers fall into a TV generation gap



This was published 14 years ago

Boomers fall into a TV generation gap

Older viewers switch off in the industry's youth focus, reports David Bauder.

THE babyboomers, people born between 1946 and 1964, are becoming increasingly accustomed to having their needs met in areas such as health, marketing and finance. But not in television. Everyone knows TV is obsessed with youth.

Now an American study suggests that television's fixation with a younger generation is backfiring. Nearly two-thirds of Americans, according to the Harris Interactive survey, believe most TV programming and advertising is targeted towards people younger than 40.

More than 80 per cent of adults over 40 say they have a hard time finding TV shows that reflect their lives. A significant number of baby boomers - 37 per cent - say they are not happy with what's on television, according to the study.

With Australian commercial networks reliant upon the US for much of their programming, the same results are likely to ring true here.


"The number of people dissatisfied with television overall was a pretty big eye-opening thing for us," says Larry Jones, president of the TV Land pay TV channel in America, 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 fell into the group.

One theory among advertisers holds that it is important to reach young people as their preferences are forming; get them using a certain toothpaste or soft drink early and they will be hooked.

Advertisers will pay a premium for young viewers: in the US, the networks charge a lot more to advertise during programs that rate well amongst viewers in the 18-24 age range than they do for advertising during programs that appeal to those aged 55-64. (Yet the survey finds 51 per cent of the postwar generation describe themselves as "open to new ideas".)

So, no guessing why the American ABC and NBC networks conduct all their business with advertisers interested in the 18-49 demographic.

If you're 50 or over, you mean nothing to those networks' executives. For Fox and countless other American networks, even 40 is too old.

Much of the TV industry is not ageing with the baby-boomers, says Randy Berkowitz, vice-president of research for Combe, which makes health and beauty products. He believes that "people are just not in tune with TV because they can't relate to it any more".

Larry Jones, of Land TV, who is 46, says 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 - but not him.

To a surprising extent, advertising is also alienating. The study says half the baby boomers questioned say they tune out of commercials that are clearly aimed at young people. An additional third say they would go out of their way not to buy a product so promoted.

"That's an awfully high level of dissatisfaction among the largest generation group of all time," says Ken Dychtwald, a psychologist who worked on the study, an online survey of 4220 adults.

Some advertisers have responded to the ageing population. Financial services firms see many potential customers advancing towards retirement. Two decades ago, medical companies did not advertise on TV; that has changed. But these are cases in which the companies , not the TV industry, saw the opportunity, Berkowitz says.

The results have convinced Jones that, more than ever, his network of mostly classic TV shows such as Get Smart, should be boomer-centric. He also goes armed with the survey when he meets advertising buyers. He says the average media buyer or planner is under 30.

Many are 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 says.

He is pushing the idea of a "middlescence", about 40- to 59-year-olds who don't feel young any more but don't feel old, and have plenty of discretionary income.


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