Older Couch Potatoes

I found an interesting article in the June 26, 2007 AdAge. For the fifth year in a row Magna Global's Median Age Report has found that the median age of people who watch the top five networks during Primetime has increased. It's not much- from 47 to 48 for the 2006-2007 season.

CBS has a median age of 54. They did lower their percentage of 65+ viewers and increased the percentage of viewers aged 50-64. So, CBS' average age stayed at 54. NBC's median age is 49, ABC's is 48, and Fox sits at 42. Median age of the CW viewers is 32.


Therefore, my question is why do CBS and other networks still insist upon wanting the 18-49 group? Maybe the median age is increasing because younger viewers are watching their favorite shows in other ways? Another report in the June 25, 2007 AdAge found that TV time is almost equal to the time 9-17 year olds spend involved in social networking. "And when kids are multitasking, they're four times more likely to pay closer attention to whatever they're doing online than to whatever they're watching on the tube. "
Could these older viewers be the reason Katie Couric's show isn't doing too well? Perhaps Leslie Moonves has ticked off the very audience he needs. Maybe he'd do well to start catering more to older couch potatoes.

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=118837

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=118763