Posted on: Thursday, December 19, 2002
MIXED MEDIA
TV news losing battle for young viewers
By Peter Johnson
USA Today
Just 14 months after 9/11, when young and old eyes were glued to news channels, viewers in the 18-to-34 age group have drifted away in droves, presumably to sitcoms, dramas, music, the Internet or any number of other choices.
Older viewers, meanwhile, are increasingly drawn to news, Mediaweek magazine reported last week.
At a time when the United States is preparing to invade Iraq, some executives in the news industry are concerned about the discrepancy. Others say it's nothing new.
"Older viewers seem to be putting in more minutes the past few months, which troubles me, considering the seriousness of the times," says MSNBC chief Erik Sorenson. He notes that younger viewers are "busier than ever, working longer hours than ever, participating more in their kids' lives, and they have more sources for news than their parents."
After 9/11, the median age of a "Larry King Live" viewer on CNN was 62. Now it's 65.
Between last fall and this one, "NBC Nightly News" held its median age at 56, but the median age of ABC's "World News Tonight" rose to 59 from 57, and the age of Dan Rather's fans at CBS to 61 from 59.
In prime time, all cable news networks — Fox, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and Headline News — have lost younger viewers since last fall. But Fox is down the least. "The O'Reilly Factor "is down 7 percent in 18-34, while King is down 38 percent in the same demographic.
News magazines, which skewed younger after 9/11, are shifting back, with "60 Minutes" and "48 Hours" both up in median age (59 and 56, respectively) but down in the 18-to-34 age group. At ABC, "PrimeTime" is down 38 percent in the younger demographic; at NBC, Tuesday's "Dateline" is down 5 percent.
Younger viewers are "tough to date, more fickle, more demanding and better with remotes," says "PrimeTime Thursday" producer David Doss.
"PrimeTime" did tap into vast numbers of younger viewers in the past month, by airing exclusive interviews with Whitney Houston and Jennifer Lopez.
Diane Sawyer's chat with Houston ranked sixth among viewers 18-49 last week.
Though a news-viewer drop-off was expected as the intensity of 9/11 decreased, writer John Consoli says he found that younger viewers have turned away from news at a much higher rate than older viewers, and that the number of 55-plus viewers watching both network and cable news has increased.
"48 Hours" producer Susan Zirinsky says that after 9/11, younger viewers were drawn to news in droves.
Traditionally, once a story dies down, younger people need a specific story to draw them to news.
"These are times of between crises," she says, "but as we get closer to war, I think you'll see them return."
