The illogically crazy topic of demographics, ad agency demands, and radio’s game of chicken with its own formats speaks to a world where sanity is fleeting and chaos abounds.
What do advertisers want when it comes to demos, lifestyles, generations, and targets, and why should radio jump through hoops to herd demographic cats?
This has been a frequent topic of conversation in this space, first with the Oldies format, and now as Classic Rock nears – or goes over – the so-called “demographic cliff” – that line that states that listeners 55 and older are no longer relevant to advertisers, and thus to radio.
Of course, that same reverse logic pushed the radio industry away from 12-24 year-olds at precisely the time when their legions swelled and they became more and more valuable to markets everywhere.
Everyone is running around trying to figure out Gen Y – from the automakers to retailers to movie producers. Yet, radio has mostly stayed on the sidelines, in spite of that generation’s size and their importance in being the future staffers of broadcasting companies and stations.
But back to “the cliff.”
If you remember the scene in Sleeper where Woody Allen wakes up 200 years later only to find out that just about everything that was thought to be bad and unhealthy in the ‘60s – burgers, chocolate, fried foods – turned out to have healing power and nutritional benefits in the future, then you have a firm understanding of the weirdly changing mindset of the advertising industry and the media outlets trying to influence it. (Of course, if you remember Sleeper, you’re definitely over “the cliff.”)
And so in the recent pivot, the Los Angeles Times reports that the networks – led by CBS – are championing AARP-aged viewers. Part of this logic is driven by the fact that the average age of a broadcast TV viewer is 54. (Sound familiar?)
It turns out there’s even have a label for this 55-64 year-old group – Alpha Boomers. As David Poltrack (the greatest name ever for a research executive) pointed out, “These people are more active, healthier, and much more likely to still be in the workforce. It’s certainly a much more vibrant and economically active audience than it used to be.”
Of course, when you have hit shows like NCIS (average age: 61) and big stars on broadcast TV like Robin Williams (62) and Tom Selleck, you’d better figure out a way to monetize your older demos.
And the flip side is that maybe Millennials aren’t as desirable as once thought. More and more are still at home, not influencing purchasing decisions or brand preference, and not watching a lot of network TV – or its commercials.
Not surprisingly, CBS broadcasts more older-skewing shows than its broadcast competitors. According to the Times article, the leading network now has 10 of 11 shows with an average age of 60 – or older. It’s all part of the dawning reality that the broadcast TV audience simply skews older, and it’s time to start monetizing it.
Maybe there’s a good news aspect here for broadcast radio, a medium that struggles with the same set of givens as network TV. The most loyal and steadiest listeners are more apt to be Boomers, while Millennials and Gen Z prove to be more fickle, elusive, and challenging. Wouldn’t it make sense for CBS Television – the network with all those “mature” TV shows to connect with CBS Radio to lead the same charge and get serious about chasing those Alpha Boomer dollars with formats like News/Talk, Classic Rock, Classic Hits, and others that have a decided Alpha Boomer lean?
The best quote in the Times article comes from actress Kathy Bates, commenting on the cancellation of her show Harry’s Law two years ago because an NBC exec felt her audience was too old to monetize:
“Geez Louise, who do you think watches TV out there, bud? The advertisers have to wake up to this. Who do you think’s got the money out there?”
We’ve been asking the same question for some time now. Radio – spearheaded by Katz, the RAB, and the industry’s biggest companies – would be wise to follow TV’s lead and start focusing on ways to cash in on some of its best, and time-honored formats.
Before they go the way of Harry’s Law.
Special thanks to Paul and his sales sensibilities for pointing this article out to me.
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Seems to me that what advertisers and agencies have always told radio they really want to buy is whatever demo you don’t have enough of.
Similar to what you describe, when I did pilot testing research for NBC the problem was always that network TV attracts older viewers, but what the agencies really want is 18-34s.
I’ve always had the feeling that this is a little like telling the car salesman “you don’t really have the color and options I want” so you can walk away & see if they will stop you with a lower price, or throw-in some extras.
Thanks for a thought provoking post, as always!
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Appreciate that, Greg, and I share your perceptions about this all being one big negotiation. And unfortunately, traditional media has flinched and altered the product to suit these “demands.” Thanks for commenting.
This is fascinating because boomers invented that 55 year old cliff back when they were in their 20s and 30s and now its coming back to bite them in their collectively sagging butts.
I question the “more likely to be in the workforce” comment. A generation or two ago, 45-60 were peak earning years and age discrimination in the workforce didn’t become prevalent until boomers amassed enough power to begin practicing it. Alpha boomers may WANT to be in the workforce, but once someone over 55 loses a job for whatever reason, they are much more likely to never find another than their parents were at the same age. And if they do find something, its often a a much lower responsibility and pay level than they’e seen in a long time.
To some extent the older skew of network TV and good old radio is a self fulfilling prophecy. Focus your programming on a certain age group and you’re likely to get it – conversely if you don’t focus on another demo, you’re not likely to get it. I also wonder whether network TV is able to monetize their older skewing shows as well as their younger ones. How does CBS’s revenue per viewer stack up against the other networks?
It certainly makes sense to maximize revenue in whatever is your core demo. Traditionally, 55+, even 35+ was very hard to sell despite some pretty good evidence that they bought a lot of stuff – in many cases more than the coveted 25-54s.
If the big companies, the RAB and Katz want to pursue this, they should resist the temptation to do a big, prefab 55+ presentation and focus on some specific accounts instead. If they can build five case studies where they uncover a series of problems that are at least partially solved using radio’s 55+ audience (and maybe some other media too) they will have established a template that can be replicated both nationally and locally. A 55+ themed powerpoint isn’t nearly as likely to move real money to radio IMO.
Here’s an even older reference than Sleeper. I was reminded during the Syfy channel’s recent Twilight Zone marathon of a couple of episodes where individuals created an obsolescence matrix that ultimately snagged them personally. It will be interesting to see if radio can remake that bed that boomers made for themselves.
What goes around certainly comes around. And as you point out, we have – to a great degree – done this to ourselves. The beauty of BROADCASTING is that (in theory), there should be something for everybody on all ends of the spectrum – from stations that play nothing but new music and those that focus on Oldies. But we have allowed agency demands to limit our focus to a 30 year sweet spot. While that may not be the story of the entire revenue challenge for radio, it’s a big part. Thanks for the observations, for coming up with an even older TV reference, and the reminder about saggy butts.
Great comments, as always. While it’s easy to complain about advertisers and media buyers, we also need to look at the sales mentality. Too often, regardless of format, sellers complain about what they don’t have. Male-targeted station sales staffs wish they had more females. CHR’s wish they had wealthy businessmen. And Classic Rock stations wish their audiences were young, hip and fit.
Well, it doesn’t work that way. If you’re going to be a seller at a Classic Rock station, you have to evangelize the audience and its value. That’s what it’s about. Advertisers will ultimately buy a station if they believe the audience has value, but it’s up to the sellers to build the case instead of apologizing because their station doesn’t exactly “fit” the demo.
It’s an age-old problem, but the best sellers are the true believers and can sell beyond their demographic and image constraints.
The ad industry’s mentality that once one hits 50 they have an ingrained brand loyalty which can’t be changed has been outdated for years. Especially now that a significant number of those Baby Boomers who are currently in their 60s are expected to live relatively active & productive lives into their late 90s/ early 100s, it would make sense to reconsider preconceived notions and marketing strategies.
I was glad last year when I read in Ad Age that someone had designated those individuals on the leading edge of the Baby Boomer as Alpha Boomers. It inspired me to create my LinkedIn group, Ambitious Energized Alpha Boomers for those born between 1946-1954 who remain passionate about their careers and have no interest in retiring.
It makes sense that youth will always be attractive to advertisers but, as Fred suggests, I suspect that there’s opportunity in serving the Alpha Boomer market, as well.
Thanks for the comment and insights, Buzz.
The ad agency mentality is based on expediency and uninformed bias. If boomers’ brand loyalty was fixed forever, they would be using rotary phones, driving Oldsmobiles, and shopping at Sears. Throughout history, boomers have been on the leading edge of change, and that remains to this day.
The only thing that’s different is today they’ve got the bucks to buy whatever they want.