News - National
Broadcast audience aging faster than population
Posted: Aug 16, 2010 8:00 AM by Bea Karnes, News First 5
Updated: Aug 16, 2010 8:01 AM
The TV audience for networks like NBC, ABC, Fox and CBS is getting older. And executives who for years essentially stopped caring about viewers over 50 are thinking differently.
The median age for viewers at those networks and CBS is now 51.
The broadcasters' audience has aged at twice the rate of the general population, according to a new report.
The report was written for Baseline Inc., an information source for the film and TV industries. The Census Bureau says the median age for the American population as a whole increased from 33 in 1990 to 38 last year.
Some experts say networks need to attract younger viewers. But Alan Wurtzel, research chief at NBC, says not only are more older viewers available -- they're an audience that should be coveted. He says people in their 50s and 60s "buy iPads" and go online, and they're the people who have the money.
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