November 15, 2006

TV Land: Boomers Ignored By TV

By Anthony Crupi

TV Land has issued the results of a study that demonstrates how disaffected many baby boomers are by mainstream television programming, which all but ignores members of the generation born between the years 1946 and 1964.

The study, which was commissioned by TV Land and conducted by the market research firm Harris Interactive, revealed that a mere 3 percent of boomers surveyed reported that they were extremely satisfied with the programming options available to them. Boomers said that TV does a very poor job of reflecting their core values and providing characters and storylines that are relevant to their own life experience.

Acoording to Ken Dychtwald, president of the San Francisco-based consulting firm Age Wave, marketers are also missing the boat when it comes to reaching out to boomers. A renowned gerontologist, Dychtwald said that ignoring consumers in their 40s and 50s is tantamount to turning one’s back on a group that boasts some $2.3 trillion in annual buying power.

“The idea that TV, this massive and powerful force in life, would turn away the largest and most influential media audience in history is just crazy, but that’s what we’re seeing in our research,” Dychtwald said, adding that if TV continues to ignore boomers, it’ll cost them in the end. “53 percent of the boomers we polled said that when they see ads that don’t relate to them because they’re more focused on the youth side of equation, they tune out. And another 33 percent say they get so annoyed by that proposition that they actively do not buy the products and will turn away from the advertising and the medium altogether. Boomers
won’t put up with being snubbed.”

In fact, Dychtwald likened the lack of respect afforded to boomers by programmers and marketers to what it must have been like to have been a member of a formerly hot boy-band. “It’s kind of like being in Menudo, where after you reached 18, they’d show you the door,” he said. In America, when people reach a certain age they are thrown out. When you get into your 40s, your perceived value as a viewer goes down.”

One major misconception that marketers have held onto past its sell-by date is the idea that consumers establish brand loyalty in their early 20s, Dychtwald said. “The problem is that 60-year-olds are more likely to try new things than 20-year-olds,” Dychtwald said. “Brand loyalty as a constant is dead. People throughout their lives are willing to try new products and services and are open to new advertising and messaging.”

TV Land’s New Generation Gap Study distilled phone and online interviews with 4,220 adults––1,655 of whom were between 40 and 59 years old.

Not coincidentally, the day before the TV Land study was released, the network announced that a new development slate that is chock-a-block with original programming. “This marks a huge opportunity for us to go from offering classic TV to becoming the destination for boomers,” said TV Land senior vp, research and planning, Tanya Giles. “Our study shows that boomers are really looking for something relevant to their generation ... and TV land is where they will find it.”

Besides TV Land, the only other outlet that specifically targets the boomer demo is the independent cable network AmericanLife TV. At last count, TV Land raeches 89.2 million US subscribers, while AmericanLife is in around 10 million homes, with carriage on Time Warner Cable, Comcast and Charter Communications systems.