There have been lots of discussions lately about the future of television. Most young people don’t watch TV now in its most traditional sense – they watch videos streamed from the internet or from YouTube. So baby boomers and seniors are the only diehard TV fans remaining.
According to The New York Times, the median age of TV audiences is getting older and older. For most of the TV business, this would be serious cause for concern because ad sales are almost always based on a target age of 25 to 54. News audiences always trend even older. Fox News, the leading U.S. cable news channel, has a median audience age of 65. MSNBC’s median age for its prime-time shows this year is 60.6. CNN’s is 59.8.
In Canada, the situation is pretty much the same. As the Internet generation continues to represent a larger portion of the key audience demographic, TV viewing overall, including viewing of local news, is likely to decline steadily. According to the CRTC’s study of Canadian Local News Economic and Audience Trends in 2008, the 18-34 demographic seems to have reduced news consumption habits.
A recent report by the Media Technology Monitor also indicated that 58 percent of Canadians said they have multitasked with an Internet-connected device while watching TV, and 26 percent said they were always or almost always using the Internet while watching TV. Meanwhile, figures for web usage are edging closer to time spent watching TV, especially among young demographics.
In the meantime, Apple and Google are renewing efforts to use technology to transform the box in our living room. Netflix is already making an impact in the entertainment world by streaming four original series – “House of Cards” (nominated for 14 Emmys), Hemlock Grove,” “Arrested Development,” and “Orange Is The New Black.”
As The New York Times pointed out, the future of TV – a place where cable is not the only answer for average viewers – just drew a little closer. TV used to come through the air or through the coaxial cable. Now it seems to come from everywhere on all kinds of devices.
For consumers, it’s always good news to see competition in original programming. If cable companies and programmers continue to raise rates, they will be losing customers and committing ‘suicide’. For advertisers and marketers who still want to capitalize on the viewership share of baby boomers and seniors, they will need to find a better way to effectively reach the more mature audiences. For TV networks who are concerned about the aging demographics of their viewers, they should try to reinvent themselves for the next generation.
For me, I’ve already reduced my cable subscription fees and have been increasingly addicted to my Netflix streamings!
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