Last night I
found this piece on the Fox News web site:
Networks define their success by the number of viewers they can attract between the ages of 18 and 49, also knownas the "crucial" 18-49 demographic.
I forwarded it to a colleague of mine, Jon Currie. Jon is one of the top media/research guys in L.A. Mr. Currie's client list is quite impressive: CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX-TV, blah, blah, blah. Even the blah, blah, blahs you've heard of.
He sent an email to the editor of the Fox News web site about the article, and CC'd me.
So being the lazy sort, why not simply copy and paste Jon's email and call it a
special guest blog entry?
Dear Editor of FoxLife:
This article is so confused and so laden with misinformation, assumptions and innuendo that it literally has made me nauseous.
I am 59 and just recently changed my toothpaste. However, I am assuming even though I live in a $2 million house near the ocean, nobody wants my money because all the young people have all the discretionary income - and of course my preferences have been writ in stone for the last 30 or so years.
People, you really need to understand something: Young people are hard to reach on TV because for the most part they don't watch it. It's a lousy place to court young people. My generation grew up with TV. It's our medium. Discard or ignore us at the risk of simply going out of business.
And actually young people have far less money than my generation and there are also less of them. Check the stats, Baby Boomers account for an overwhelming majority of the resources in this country, And we buy things - lots of things. And we are not senior citizens. Do not mix myself and my wife who just got her 2nd masters and is becoming a school principal with folks who sit around and play checkers and use Depends. We just paid off her Volvo. Believe it or not she's considering a Mercedes next. But of course, how can that be? She had her tastes fixed in stone with her first car, a Chevy, 30 years ago. Guess she really can't buy that C-class now.
I will now turn on my Ipod with its Altec-Lansing sound system. Omigod, you old guy, you have one! Yes, actually I turned my 33 year old lawyer son onto it. Of course, no ITunes for me, I am way too old. So what did I get for Christmas? ITunes download credit. Oh no, it can't be! you don't know about those things---go play shuffleboard.
I also introduced all 4 of my grown kids (all professionals) to Coldplay. My wife still has X+Y in her car CD-player. Impossible, go listen to Elvis you relic!
Don't want to program to me? Don't want my money? I am not as desirable as some kid who serves me lattes at Starbucks?
Hmmm, We ended the Vietnam war and began a halt to institutionalized racism and started women's rights. I think we are more than capable of bringing down institutionalized ageism.
Jon E. Currie
Currie Communications, Inc.
currie@ratings-research.com