Devoted to show business and the entertainment industry

Let's pretend that young people are tuning into watch television, whether it's the major networks or cable.

I find the demographics of television interesting. Young people by a great majority have rejected it in favor of other means of entertainment and news. Yet all the networks continually pretend they are catering to this huge crowd of young people. Do you ever wonder why?

When you look at the programming across the entire spectrum of television, you would think that about 80% of the viewers were under 30.

What's going on here?

Brian Lowry of Variety.com writes:

"The major nightly newscasts and newspapers continue to grapple with the need to "get younger," from the "CBS Evening News' " planned makeover and the obscene drift of primetime magazines in television to shorter stories and increased page one "pop culture" coverage in top dailies. Beyond reaching the young adults advertisers covet, the concern is that the next generation needs to develop the news-consuming habit.

"Seldom mentioned, however, is the fact that cable news is equally geriatric. Indeed, Fox News Channel and CNN are two of only three leading basic networks (the other being the Hallmark Channel) whose median viewer age is over 60. Headline News rings in next at 59.9, and MSNBC is still on the rickety side at 57.

"This is the dirty little secret cable news would rather not discuss -- namely, that half their viewers graduated from the 18-49 demographic during the first Bush administration. Nevertheless, their primetime hours are replete with the young, restless and at risk -- whether it's a missing girl in Aruba, spring break shenanigans or alleged rape at a prestigious university.

"The cable nets' older profiles have also yielded absurd exchanges about demographic superiority, such as the boast that more young adults view MSNBC's Keith Olbermann than CNN's Paula Zahn. Whichever midget is taller, the truth remains that the vast majority of young adults have no interest in either."

This is remarkable to me. Why the pretending? Does television think that advertisers are ignorant of the true demographics and statistics? Even with shows that pander to and are edgier in content, overall they are still rejected by the great majority of young people.

Here's another thought: since most people are older that watch TV, why not simply cater to that audience and quit trying to be hip and cool; which isn't working. Let's face it, people over 50 have so much more money and resources than the younger crowd that you'd think that this would thrill television executives.

Now here's the clincher to me: Everybody will grow old. Why not simply maintain that market as people grow into it? I know that the younger demographic has grown up on diverse ways of interacting with numerous devices and may not quite watch television the way a more mature viewer does.

The bottom line is that network and cable television are going to be increasingly cutting up a smaller piece of the pie. It doesn't matter what they put up on the screen.