Big 6 Networks Show Their Ages
Posted on: Thursday, 7 July 2005, 06:00 CDT
Losing Friends didn't just send NBC into a ratings spiral; it also aged the network's remaining audience. A study released today by ad firm Magna Global USA reveals that the network's prime-time audience in the 2004-05 season hit its highest median age ever: 48.
And for the first time, UPN supplanted WB as the broadcast network with the youngest audience. Its median age dropped to 32.9, and WB's jumped to 35 behind older-skewing hits such as 7th Heaven and Reba. Fox's audience also grew older, and although CBS reversed an aging trend, it remains the oldest-skewing network.
Median age reflects the midpoint of a network's viewership: Half its audience is older, and half younger. Advertisers, and the networks that depend on them, value younger viewers more highly. But the overall population's median age, at 37.9, is now younger than all of the Big 4 networks'.
The median age of NBC's Joey viewers was 43.9 (four years older than for Friends), and 46% of the network's overall prime-time audience was over 50. NBC and WB have aged the most over the past five years. Newsmagazines tend to attract the oldest viewers; reality appeals to the youngest.
The networks, oldest to youngest (cable rankings at right):
*CBS. 2004-05 median age, 51.8; last season, 52.9. Youngest series: The Amazing Race, 43.5; oldest: 60 Minutes Wednesday, 59.2.
*NBC. 2004-05 median age, 48; last season, 45.9. Youngest series: Father of the Pride, 37.6; oldest: Dateline (Friday), 56.4.
*ABC. 2004-05 median age, 45.3, same as last season. Youngest series: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, 39.8. Oldest: Primetime Thursday, 50.8.
*Fox. 2004-05 median age, 38.2; last season, 36.4. Youngest series: American Dad, 24.2; oldest: House, 44.6.
*WB. 2004-05 median age, 35; last season, 33.4. Youngest series: One Tree Hill, 27.1; oldest: Everwood, 42.4.
*UPN. 2004-05 median age, 32.9; last season, 34.2. Youngest series: Road to Stardom, 26.5; oldest: Enterprise, 42.9.
By Gary Levin
Source: USA TODAY
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