Media Hunter

Television's generation & gender gaps

Source: David Dale, Sun Herald blogs

If men and women could only unite, Australia might get some stimulating television in the second half of this year. But they can't, so we're stuck with the programming preferred by viewers aged over 55 -- the time of life when, apparently, the sexes are most similar.

Last week this column pointed out that the seniors are the biggest consumers of TV, while the groovers watch the least (37 per cent of prime time viewing is by people over 55, up from 32 per cent in 2003; 28 per cent is by people 16-39, down from 30 per cent in 2003).

So the network that wins the year will be the one with the geriatric appeal. Off the back of a truck has fallen some fascinating research about the age of viewers for each station's most popular shows this year. The median age of Australians is 37, which is to say that half the population is older than 37 and half is younger. But the median age of viewers for most top programs is well above the national figure. Half the people who regularly watch Today Tonight, for example, are over 54. What you're about to read suggests that TV is, to put it politely, a mature medium.

Nine ahead at half time

Source: David Dale, Sun Herald blogs 

It was the battle of the Australian icons, as Dannii Minogue took on Schappelle Corby. And although Dannii scored a technical knockout, Schappelle performed strongly enough to let Channel Nine win the week and conclude the first half of the year with a higher audience share than Channel Seven (Nine has averaged 27.8 per cent for the ratings year so far, a rise of 1 per cent, while Seven averaged 27.7, a fall of 6 per cent).

The margin is so fine that Nine can't take any risks for the second half, which is why it announced late on Friday it had axed Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune, which was providing a lead-in of only 585,000 viewers for Nine's 6pm news. Its rival, Deal or No Deal, hands over 890,000 to Seven's news, and sets Seven up nicely for the night. Wheel will be replaced by Antiques Roadshow, which may be an appropriate label for most of what we'll be seeing this year.

Holding Page Blues

How many times have you been to a site and seen the old message "Under Construction" or "Coming soon". Obviously all sites must undertake a refresh from time to time, but what stuns me is that many businesses that should be profiting from a strong web presence are willing to leave lame holding pages up for long periods of time.

One radio station in my market appears to have had a holding page, or at least a very basic interim site, up for close to six months. In some ways I hope that's their interim site, because if they aren't feverishly working away on an amazing site as we speak, then they have absolutely no appreciation for how they should be marketing themselves and interacting with their audience in 2008.

(Shameless self promotion time).

Sticky Advertising is just days away from launching a totally new web presence. It's been carefully planned  and developed for several months...not just the site, but the lead up announcements, the release and launch strategy....even the holding page.

Rather than just stick up a lame holding page, we felt it necessary to leave something entertaining, dynamic and indicative of the agency's attitude. This holding page is really a chapter in our evolving story. And in my own humble opinion it is more interesting than many full sites (ok, I am very biased, but check it out and judge for yourself).

My question is...why don't more businesses dedicate a little more thought to their "transition sites"? Surely they realise that potential customers might visit and get a poor impression of the business. Any thoughts?

In the meantime, Sticky's holding page is up for only a few more days. We launch the new site next week.

Stephen Collins at PubCamp

Here is Stephen Collins' presentation at PubCamp in Sydney. Stephen was easily one of the best presenters on the day. Apologies for the shaky camera work at start...it improves.

PubCamp 2008 - Stephen Collins from Acidlabs social media presentation from Sticky Advertising on Vimeo.

Copyright Stephen Collins CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Dalton calls for web TV controls

Source: Simon Canning, The Australian

ABC television chief Kim Dalton has called on the federal Government to extend Australia's TV content standards to web-based video, a move that would greatly increase government regulation of the internet.

But Mr Dalton will argue in a speech at the CCI International Conference in Brisbane today that with more TV being delivered through broadband internet services there is a risk of our culture being lost under a tide of cheap-to-access overseas programming.

He warns that unless urgent moves are taken, Australian content could be wiped from the new broadcasting landscape in as little as five or 10 years.

"Consumers are demanding more extensive online, video-based entertainment," he says in the speech. "The business model here favours cheap, foreign video content and ... online content is putting pressure on established business models.

"It is likely that existing regulatory arrangements to deliver local drama, documentaries, comedy, children's, news, current affairs and other programming may have diminishing effects on the market as the existing business models of broadcasters are challenged and the content offered becomes, increasingly, foreign.

Let us comfort you

Source: David Dale, Sun Herald blogs

Australians are crawling back into their cocoons. The age of adventure is over. You can tell from the way they're watching TV. Don't try to show them anything edgy, surprising or demanding. They want slow, reassuring, and predictable.

The programs that symbolise the national mindset right now are Domestic Blitz and Better Homes and Gardens. We demonstrated enough bravery by watching The Chaser boys and electing Kevin Rudd. Now we're pulling up the drawbridge.

This behaviour pattern seems to go in three year cycles. From 2002 to 2004, as we retreated from September 11 and the Bali bombings, the top shows reassured us that every problem had a solution. Messy garden? A team of fairies will fly in for a weekend and redecorate it. Messy crime? A team of scientists will shine a blue light on it and find the culprit within an hour. Our favourite sitcoms came with cues to tell us when to laugh.

ABC, Nine & MTV now available on iTunes in Australia

Source: Media Spy

Downloads of local and international TV shows are now available in Apple’s Australian iTunes store. Around 21 different shows ranging from Desperate Housewives and Lost to segments from Foreign Correspondent and Canal Road are now legally available for download at $2.99 per episode.

At present the Nine Network, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, MTV, Disney Channel and ABC Studios - producers of overseas hits such as Lost and Desperate Housewives are available in the store.

No anouncements have been made about plans for the Seven Network, Ten, or SBS to join the service. US network NBC left the store last year as a result of disputes over the cost of programs.

Burger King - Family Values

Very funny series of Burger King commercials from American hot shop Crispin Porter + Bogusky.

NBN continues winning ways

Newcastle Television ratings week 25 2008

NBN continued its dominant ratings hold over the Newcastle TV viewing audience last week with a 36.4 share, 14 points ahead of nearest rival Prime. Eight of the Top 10 programs for the week were on NBN, with ABC's The Gruen Transfer being the best non-NBN product followed by Prime's Australia's Got Talent.

NBN would be particularly happy with the performance of their new Domestic Blitz program which had the biggest audience of the week with 128,000 viewers.

Your TV set will run on grey power

Source: David Dale, Sun Herald blogs

What a sweet revenge for the over 55s. Once spurned and ignored by the commercial stations -- "Let them watch the ABC," was the attitude -- they have now become the powerbrokers. Their tastes will determine which network wins this year and gets the most advertising in 2009.

Not long ago Channel Ten used to put out press releases boasting how certain programs were "shedding" older viewers, while Nine and Seven proudly declared their target audience to be viewers aged 25-54. There's none of that talk now. The oldies are golden, and not just because there are more of them. It's also because they're the first ones back into their cocoons as uncertainty grows about the economy. And once they've pulled up the drawbridge, the over-55s are more likely to watch the box than the under 40s, who have other distractions.

For a vision of the future of Australian television, look at the favourite shows of each age group last week. In particular, compare the audience totals across the mainland capitals ...