Stop Age Discrimination On TV!!

By: Pfrancoeur_9 - [social]

Last year, ABC pursued David Letterman as a potential replacement for Ted Koppel's "Nightline" time slot, although, "Nightline" had better ratings then Letterman's show. The reason= Letterman's show hits the Key Demographic of 18-49 better then "Nightline."

The above scenario is just one example of the many injustices that are occurring on television networks throughout this country and abroad. The Key Demographic first came into play during the sixties, when ABC pursuaded the Nielsen Rating System to measure a shows popularity with its younger audience. This was put into place so that the network could demonstrate to advertisers a younger untapped market of customers to generate more revenue. At the time, this didn't seem all that important to most viewers, until within the past ten years. In the course of this time, three new networks were created: FOX, WB, and UPN, which all targeted a younger, hipper audience, and by doing so caused an advertising frenzy for the existing, ABC, CBS and NBC. Not only did these new networks take precious ratings points away from the main networks, but advertisers also seem to flock to them. So the big three networks decided it was do or die time, and decided to follow suit by targeting the same youth market even stronger then ever before. Then, without even realizing what was going on, it was no longer how well a show was doing in the Nielsen Ratings, but whether or not that show was hitting the Key Demographic. Networks even go as far as to not just give the over all ratings of a program, but to also measure how well it did with those ranging from the ages of 18-49.

If that's not bad enough, now there's not only a Key Demographic which targets the age of 18-49, there is also an even worse Youth Demographic which targets the age of 16-25. A prime example of a program that was targeted for this Youth Demographic market is the hit FOX series, "American Idol," where one of the main rules to the contest stated that a contestant had to be between the ages of 16-24. In fact, they actually disqualified one contestant who felt the need to lie about his age in order, to enter the competition. I guess the Producer of this show didn't think anyone older then 24 could be considered or accepted as a music idol. Let's hope no one tells Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias, or Marc Anthony: to name a few, about this.

In reseaching whether the networks have the right to conduct themselves in this manner, I discovered upon reading the rules governed by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), that the regulated cost of advertising is at the discretion of the networks, and yet, it would seem that it's now more at the discretion of the advertisers.

For example: A program such as "Dawson's Creek," which only garners an audience of four million will have an advertiser paying out a hundred thousand dollars per 60 second ad, while a stellar program like "60 Minutes," which can easily garner an audience of 15 million can only ask for a few thousand dollars more for the same ad, because their audience is older. However, people between the ages of 35-64 account for nearly two-thirds of consumer spending. The logic for this is there are fewer younger people out there, and since they are the ones more easily swayed into trying a new product--then it stands to reason that almost as much money would be put into advertising on a program that meets this Key Demographic. So the big question is: What happened to the philosophy that everyone, regardless of age, is a potential customer?

Upon taking a closer look, one finds that the so called Youth Demograhphic maybe nothing more then a stereotype that someone created, and others were led to believe. The Stereotype of making one believe that by saturating television with youth oriented programs it will attract a youth market may not necessarily be true. To bring this point home, an online Petition drive has been started to stop age discrimination in television at:

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/agedemo/petition.html

where surprisingly many of the signers are teenagers who desire a more diverse representation of age on television. What does this say? Well, it's pretty obvious that these young viewers would much rather be entertained by a good, well done story, instead of just teen angst. They would also prefer to watch a talented actor, and or actress over fifty, as oppose to some teeny bopper who doesn't have much talent, but is pleasant to look at. In short, they have enough taste to desire more then just eye candy. So, why is it that advertisers think they have to flock to networks with youth oriented shows to try to attract the youth market? Good question.

But the real question is, does this problem really begin with the Networks or even the advertisers? Is it possible that the Networks are clinging to the Key Demographic now more then ever before because the Nielsen Rating System is no longer as effective as it use to be. Think about it for a minute, when this system first began there were very few channels to choose from, and generally there were only one television per household. Now, it's anywhere from three to four televisions per household, most likely tuned into different things; none of which is taken into consideration by the Nielsen system. Also, there are now six networks, hundreds of cable networks, and of course independant networks. Many more channels, many more choices, all vying for viewership and ratings. Yet, the overall ratings within the past ten years alone have suffered a tremendous drop, perhaps due to the above reasons and also due to other mediums of entertainment. Some examples are: the internet, video games and Video/DVD rentals. So in order to save face, the networks started to aim more and more at the Youth Demographic to save itself. After all, even if a series has low ratings they can still get advertisers to advertise if it targets the highly desired youth market. But, is the Demographic the solution or just a quick fix to cover up a problem that continues to get worse instead of better. Perhaps if there were no Key or Youth Demographic, then The Nielsen Rating System would have to rethink how they do things, which by the way is long over due. The world has changed but this system has remained the same.

I realized that some advertisers will probably say that some shows have higher ratings, and will get their commercial seen by more potential customer. In some ways I have to agree with this except, how many of us trully watch commercial? I bet if I were to poll how many of us actually sit down to watch commercial that the statistic would be low. Yet, I will admit that if the commercial is for a new product, or is actually entertaining it could grab my attention. So maybe the key isn't for the networks to sacriface good entertainment to appease advertisers, perhaps it's for the advertisers to learn to be more entertaining with their ads.

The main concern, though, is just how long are we going to continue to accept that television is just for the young to watch since they are its target audience; whom by the way aren't happy by this turn of events either. For this reason, the "Abolish Age Discrimination In Television," Petition was created, to bring back better age diversity in television and to get rid of programs being measured by how they play out to a target audience of 18-49. So please take the time to go to:

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/agedemo/petition.html

If you can get behind and support this petition and what it stands for, please take the time to sign it, then spread the word to others. It is our goal to submit this petition to the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) to get them to intervene, and to put an end to a Demographic that is now taking control of the television industry. Together we can bring back better quality, age diversified television. Together we can all make a difference and put an end to Age Discrimination In Television.

Peg and Kathryn Francoeur are the co-authors of Abolish Age Discrimination in Television. They are also the creators of the Abolish Age Discrimination in Television Petition which can be found at: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/agedemo/petition.html

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