Report: Broadcast Networks’ Median Age Tops 50

LOS ANGELES: The average median age of viewers at the five U.S. broadcast networks is 52, up from 43 in the 1999/00 season, while the average age in TV homes in the U.S. today is just 38.

ABC’s median age has risen from 43 a decade ago to 52, CBS’s has risen from 52 to 56, and NBC’s is up from 45 to 50, according to the report from Baseline Intelligence. FOX, meanwhile, has seen its average median age increase from 35 to 46. Only The CW comes in at the under 40 mark, with a median viewer age of 34.

A factor contributing to the networks aging faster than the general population, the report says, is the lack of comedies, which tend to appeal to younger viewers. In the fall of ’99 there were 45 comedies on broadcast TV; in fall 2009, just 20. The number of young-skewing serial dramas has fallen from 15 to 9. Procedural dramas, which skew older, have grown from 5 on the schedule a decade ago to 20 last year. The report also points to the growth of the multichannel landscape, with about 70 percent of homes today accessing more than 100 channels. In the cable arena, about 35 networks have an average median age under 45.

The report also indicates that the average age of viewers who time shift is 42, as compared with the live average of 52. However, the report continues, viewers under 25 are more likely to watch live TV rather than time-shift. The heaviest DVR usage is among adults 50 to 64, followed by 25 to 34.