Interesting..

----

http://www.soapoperanetwork.com/features/articles/53-ar...erageviewerincreases

Daytime Getting Older Not Younger
Thursday, July 3, 2008 1:20 AM | By Errol Lewis

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) -- The average age of a daytime viewer has increased tenfold on the ABC, CBS, and NBC Broadcast Networks.

According to data released last week by Steve Sternberg, executive vice president, audience analysis at Magna Global, one of the world's largest media services firms, the average age of an individual watching daytime programming on the broadcast networks has increased season-to-season to 54 years-old from 50 years-old. ABC jumped four years to 53 from 49 last year; NBC went up to 49 from 43, while CBS aged up to 59 years-old from 56.

The oldest skewing daytime series was CBS' "The Price is Right" with an average audience of 64, while NBC's "Days of our Lives" had the youngest audience at 49.

Overall CBS is the oldest skewing network with an average viewer aged 55 between all day parts (morning news, daytime, evening news, primetime and latenight). NBC is the youngest at 52.

---

More Soon!

Interesting info, scoopster. I can't say i'm surprised by these stats, though.

Teens and young adults just don't have the time or desire to watch soaps anymore, and who can blame them with the crap that daytime is putting out these days, minus one or 2 shows.

So let's see, i'm 42, so i'm younger than the average daytime tv audience. Maybe i should be watching "Blue's Clues."

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MARKPGH,

Hell I am 22 and I watch almost every soap... Weird.

I'm 32 and this is not true, I know plenty of people in their teens and 20's that watch soaps as well as people my age.

There were more people watching the daytime emmys than the reported #1 soap has viewers, so there is something off in the way the account viewership with DVR's and Soapnet re airing the demo is a lot different than they report.

Yeah, I'm 24 and I dvr like all cbs and abc soaps, sorry I just dont care for days since kristen left. I know lots of young people who do the same thing i do. Weird survey.

see there is a small percentage of our age (I am 23) but I would say we make a very small small percentage of the people who watch these shows.

Mom's that are home from work these days don't wacth these shows with theit kids..they watch more Dora or HSM, or something on Nickelodeon. I remember watch every type of show as a young child and today these soaps are not being passed on like years and years before. It really is sad.

…and yet the suits don't give a damn that this is fact. So they'll continue to do the same insane thing—dumbing down the dramas and losing more of the established, not-getting-any-younger viewers—by going after [more] real young ones (minors)…like as if the soaps are a cigarettes industry: hook them while they're young and prone to watching the suds as an addiction. And they'll buy, buy, buy…what's…advertised (right?).

It's the same old tune. Just more of the same. And this isn't really news. (Thank you, no matter, Scoopster!)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: DS0816,

On a related note, there was an interesting recent issue of Marketing magazine that focused on the 50+ crowd as a consumer market. One article was an interview with Canadian TV visionary Moses Znaimer - who popularized the term "zoomers" to refer to the 50+ crowd, redefining them as dynamic and having spending clout.

The key message, in a nutshell, is that one should not underestimate the spending power and clout of this audience.

Which is why it's so frustrating at times that the networks are always targetting, as Y&R's Eric Braeden (Victor) calls its, "the mythical youth audience."

Bill Bell - when he was alive and at his prime - always found a nice balance between telling stories for the veterans and slowly introducing younger/new characters once every few years; instead of flooding our screen with them all at once.

I miss those days to tell you the truth. :-) It's overwhelming at times watching Y&R and seeing all these new characters.

Ok. Sorry for going off on a tangent like I usually do. LOL.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: survivorkylie,

i'm not shocked at these numbers... what has happened is as soaps have tried to get younger viewers they have ended up alienating them to the point that they don't watch anymore.

quote:

Originally posted by Boidiva02:
i'm not shocked at these numbers... what has happened is as soaps have tried to get younger viewers they have ended up alienating them to the point that they don't watch anymore.

In fairness to soaps - note: I'm not defending poor storytelling - there are just so many options available on television now (specialty channels, movie channels, etc.). Younger viewers are also spending most of their time on the Internet as well and soaps can't come on them as much anymore during the summer to spike up the ratings like they used to.

quote:

Originally posted by survivorkylie:

quote:

Originally posted by Boidiva02:
i'm not shocked at these numbers... what has happened is as soaps have tried to get younger viewers they have ended up alienating them to the point that they don't watch anymore.

In fairness to soaps - note: I'm not defending poor storytelling - there are just so many options available on television now (specialty channels, movie channels, etc.). Younger viewers are also spending most of their time on the Internet as well and soaps can't come on them as much anymore during the summer to spike up the ratings like they used to.

good points, but what really happened is that what executives thought teens wanted was teen stories, so they filled the shows with teen actors and stories and took away all the older characters and core famalies which resulted in soaps loosing the very thing it was that made people want to watch soaps in the first place, so teens tuned out, while the older people continued to tune in out of habit. at least imho.

quote:

Originally posted by Boidiva02:
good points, but what really happened is that what executives thought teens wanted was teen stories, so they filled the shows with teen actors and stories and took away all the older characters and core famalies which resulted in soaps loosing the very thing it was that made people want to watch soaps in the first place, so teens tuned out, while the older people continued to tune in out of habit. at least imho.

I agree. Teens always like to "watch up" - meaning watch things are that more of a mature nature. I remember being a huge Melrose Place fan in junior high. hehe. And when I started watching Y&R in Grade 4 - Sheila and Lauren were my fave characters; not the teen set.

quote:

Originally posted by survivorkylie:

quote:

Originally posted by Boidiva02:
good points, but what really happened is that what executives thought teens wanted was teen stories, so they filled the shows with teen actors and stories and took away all the older characters and core famalies which resulted in soaps loosing the very thing it was that made people want to watch soaps in the first place, so teens tuned out, while the older people continued to tune in out of habit. at least imho.

I agree. Teens always like to "watch up" - meaning watch things are that more of a mature nature. I remember being a huge Melrose Place fan in junior high. hehe. And when I started watching Y&R in Grade 4 - Sheila and Lauren were my fave characters; not the teen set.

I agree totally! when i started watching "GH" in 1992 (i was like nine or ten, definetly not even in junior high) it was Lucy, Bobbie and Felicia that were my favorite characters not the teens.

And i was also a HUGE fan of "Melrose Place" in the day--i was still in high school but loved to watch that show.

Heck on "AMC" when i was like eight my favorite characters were Opal and Phoebe!

The amazing thing is, a lot of us here are in the younger demographic so coveted by Daytime, but most of us are offended by the fact Daytime PTBs insult our intelligence withlousy quality. This obsession with dull teen storylines and stupid, sensationalistic shock value plots that started in the early 90s by JER and spread like cancer.

Daytime gets EVERYTHING so horribly wrong where good Primetime shows get it right with regards to the generational mix, balance and image. FFS, Ugly Betty is diametrically opposed to the shallow image Daytime has tried to convey to us since the 90s. This obsession with eye candy regardless of talent is one of the reasons Austin Peck gets so roundly criticised (even though he isn't as bad an actor as Ronn Moss or Drake Hogestyn, but that's not on topic here).

Look at what most hit Primetime series do. They ALL feature older, sometimes less-than-glamourous actors in lead roles and can do eminently relatable storylines (which is why the L&O franchise is so successful, and why it's carried NBC for a while now). Even a youth-oriented show like The O.C. had the adults more involved.

The brutal truth is that more people have left Daytime this decade than any other decade, and at this rate there will be nothing but memories. The ratings figures comparing the late 90s (when the rot was already setting in) and now confirm that.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Everton4Life,

The networks try to appeal to the younger audience with their soaps (and all their programming for that matter). But, the problem is, as evidenced by the stats you provided is, that it isn't making a difference no matter what they do. So, I would try to appeal to the biggest part of your audience, even if it is in the 50+ age group. I am in my late 30s and have watched soaps for years, but I rarely hear any younger relatives say they watch the soaps. So, why not try to keep your existing audience?