Q&A

Q: Why in the world does the entertainment community think older folks don't watch TV? So many good shows have been canceled because the networks say not enough young people watch. Don't they think older viewers need and want to watch something?

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Author: 
Adam Thomlison / TV Media

This is certainly one of the most frustrating problems in television, and as the saying goes, to get an answer you have to follow the money.

Broadcast television, along with most of cable, makes its money from advertising, and advertising studies show time and again that the most lucrative demographic to target is between the ages of 18 and 49.

"The older population is seen as brand loyal; it's harder to get them to change their purchasing habits," Lyle Schwartz, a marketplace analysis expert, explained in a study for "Television Quarterly."

And so the advertisers hoping to reach the less-loyal, younger demo demand that the networks produce shows that will draw them in.

The economics of cable are slightly different, but most cable channels still depend on advertising for the biggest share of their revenue.

The difference can be seen in the networks that do not depend on advertising, such as HBO and Showtime. Their programming is far less youth-skewed (compare HBO's "The Sopranos," for example, to CBS's "The Big Bang Theory").

It can also be seen in the newest form of TV-show delivery: online streaming.

Netflix just bucked the trend by picking up "Longmire," which was dropped by A&E. Analysts say it was dropped from the ad-supported cable channel due to the high average age of its viewership. However, Netflix, which does not depend on advertising, doesn't have to care about that: a subscriber is a subscriber for them.

It remains to be seen whether "Longmire" will mark a new trend toward online shows targeting the older demographic.

So far the evidence is mixed: among the new Netflix shows coming out this year are two shows based on comic books (pretty youth-skewing), but also a divorce-themed sitcom starring seventy-somethings Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda.

 

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