Media Hunter

Cashed-up Gen Y breaks the rules

Source: Nina Lees, Adnews

MELBOURNE: The somewhat predictable behaviour of Generation Y is being affected by a whole host of modern-day challenges, a new report has revealed.

Youth media and communications agency Lifelounge has found 16 to 30-year-olds are changing their behaviours in line with a range of changes in society.

The 2008 Urban Market Research report measures the self concept of Australian youth and how certain influences such as communication, finance, sex, health and wellbeing are driving choice in their lives.

The research also found that in the past 12 months there’s been an alarming trend of fewer people venturing out to nightclubs, pubs and local gigs, believed to be because of the smoking ban, the increase sales tax on alcopops and the venue lockouts occurring around the country.

US: Average TV viewer now aged 50; outside advertisers’ 18-49 target demos

Source: MediaSpy & Variety

The broadcast networks have grown older than ever — if they were a person, they wouldn’t even be a part of TV’s target demo anymore.According to a study released by Magna Global’s Steve Sternberg, the five broadcast nets’ average live median age (in other words, not including delayed DVR viewing) was 50 last season. That’s the oldest ever since Sternberg started analyzing median age more than a decade ago — and the first time the nets’ median age was outside of the vaunted 18-49 demo.

Fueling the graying of the networks: the rapid aging of ABC, NBC and Fox. The three nets continue to grow older, while CBS – the oldest-skewing network — has remained fairly steady.

“The median ages of the broadcast networks keep rising, as traditional television is no longer necessarily the first screen for the younger set,” Sternberg wrote.

For the just-completed 2007-08 TV season, CBS was oldest in live viewing with a median age of 54. ABC clocked in at 50, followed by NBC (49), Fox (44), CW (34) and Univision (34).

When live-plus-7 DVR viewing is factored in, the nets (except CW and Univision) drop by a year — which still reps the oldest median age ever for the nets.

Sternberg notes that Fox and CW maintain median ages that are closer to the actual age of the population. The median age for U.S. households is 38.

Boomers the neglected goldmine

Source: Simon Canning, The Australian

THE number of Australians over 45 will outstrip those under 45 this year, making baby boomers the most powerful media consumers.

Charlie Nelson Charlie Nelson says the number of people over-50 will grow rapidly. But it is a section of the community most media and marketers continue to ignore, even though these people have $218billion burning a hole in their pockets and are desperate for a place to spend it.

The decision by most media to ignore a part of the market unhindered by the stress of mortgage rate rises or the cost of rearing children continues to perplex those who have closely followed the rise of the boomers.

According to market researcher Charlie Nelson of Foreseechange, the number of people under 50 will grow by just 2per cent between 2001 and 2011 while the over-50 population will explode by 32 per cent during the same period.

"The baby boomers are the ones who are spending the most on discretionary items; it is the one demographic that is growing," Mr Nelson said.

"In terms of the percentage of total discretionary spending, people aged from 55 to 64 have gone from 13 per cent of the total market in the 1990s to 17.6 per cent. At the same time the 65-plus market has grown from 11.7 per cent to 14 per cent."