In some rare, non-Iraq show news this week, we have this latest article from Forbes:
The Graying Of Comedy Central
Dorothy Pomerantz, 06.12.09, 04:15 PM EDT
The average age of ”The Daily Show” viewers is up five years. That could mean advertising trouble for parent Viacom.
LOS ANGELES — On their late night talk shows, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert love to refer to their audiences as dorm-living, pot-smoking couch potatoes. But the reality is that their average viewer is more likely to be a hard-working Dad or even a retiree.
So while Stewart’s show grabbed big buzz this week for skewering The New York Times’ for being the kind of news a “grandmother” would love, in May the median age of The Daily Show viewers crept up five years to 41.4, and the median age of The Colbert Report viewers was up five years to 38.3 , according to Nielsen.
Compared to May 2008, the number of people between the ages of 18 and 34 (the most coveted demographic) watching The Daily Show fell 14%, 15% for The Colbert Report. At the same time, the number of people older than 55 watching The Daily Show rose by 25%, 22% for The Colbert Report.
Overall viewership is up for both shows (8% for The Daily Show and 9% for The Colbert Report), but advertising rates are based as much on who the ad is reaching as on who is watching.
. . .
Okay, a few things about this article. One, 38.3 and 41.4 are not “old” by any stretch of the imagination. Two, I notice that these stats are based on Nielsen — do they even count the number of (presumably young) viewers who are switching to these shows via online outlets? Three, I get that Viacom would pay attention to this sort of thing, but they’re still winning the late night demo quite handily. And the doom-and-gloom quote (not in the part I excerpted) about whether the “age creep” means the shows aren’t “sustainable” really made me roll my eyes; anyone who thinks that The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are losing their relevance is from a planet I’d like never to visit.
Bottom line for me is: if it means I’m subjected to fewer commercials for Girls Gone Wild, erectile dysfunction, and unbelievably annoying and all-too-often sexist plugs for junk food and beer, I will embrace the “graying” quite wholeheartedly.
I agree with you entirely. Why the hell do they base their stats on Nielsens ALONE and not include online data? No way most kids in the dorm room college-age demo are watching it on cable on a regular basis. I know people who don’t even own a tv and watch ONLY online! People need to get their research straight.
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I am one of those people with no TV who only watches TV shows online and am in my mid-20s. I’m like an invisible ninja (or is that redundant?)!
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I get my TDS & TCR from iTunes. Yes, I know the clips on the shows’ websites are “free;” I get sick of watching the same commercial over & over (& over &…). I’m the same age as Obama, btw. I haven’t heard anyone calling him too old!
Sounds like the Nielsons – and Forbes – need to get with the times, not Jon & Stephen!
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I agree, they must not be counting all the online watching that’s being done, and that’s mostly how younger people are seeing the shows. I don’t have cable, so I catch the shows online and I know it’s more convenient for a lot of people I know. Also, I really don’t think these stats reflect the real pool of viewers for TDS and TCR. All of my friends who watch the shows are around my age (18-20) and I know people even younger than that who enjoy the shows, like my brother who is 16.
So, yeah, I agree. I really don’t think this reflects the true viewer demographic and the “worry” about this creeping age pool doesn’t make sense to me!
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They just ignore the ‘under 18′ demographic. I’m 16 and quite a few of my friends watch TCR!
I agree that they’re ignoring people who watch online as well.
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I also think it’s kind of annoying that the ‘under 18′ demographic is ignored, mainly considering I’m in that demographic.
Also, they don’t count people that record/TiVo it. Now I don’t count twice.
Oh, and count me in for less ‘Girls Gone Wild’ commericals (or the commericals just stopping).
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A nytimes blog that shows Bob Hope compilation (compiled by Hope Enterprises):
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/the-usos-new-funnyman/
The very end (silent night was very moving). I really hope Colbert can have the opportunity to do this USO trip once a year. That would be amazing.
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The most humorous part is that the mean age is increasing yet viewership is up 9%. Well no s#!t. The young people are already watching the show. They aren’t just tuning out now, it is just that more old folks are catching on and thing Colbert is fun to fall asleep to.
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How long are Colbert and Stewart’s contract? How many more years do we have left of them?
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fewer commercials for Girls Gone Wild
IF ONLY. I mean, the other commercials are annoying too but once I hear that tropical jingle and see star-spangled boobs, I just want to chuck my remote through the screen.
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Star-spangled boobs? now that I may tune in for
Oh I thought you meant you had them =p
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…Let alone the fact that they’re all 20 minutes long. You can go have a bite and easily return to your stars and your spangles.
This is a dumb article. Smells like someone’s really desperate for something to write about.
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Years ago I told to my classmates that I planned not to have a TV set as soon I would move to live alone. They reacted as if I was telling them I was opting for not to have sex anymore.
Now I really don’t miss it. Even more, here you have me following the Colbert Report and the Daily show from Madrid, Spain. By the way, the first show from Baghdad reached meneame.net’s frontpage, that is, the Spanish Digg.com’s clone.
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i am happy to know that at my age (28) i am contributing to the aged graying of TCR’s demog..
i don’t know why the media is so obsessed with late night ratings. if they keep this up, it is going to lead to (another) late night host brawl.
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Hey, nothing wrong with that ;)
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That whole 18-34 is the “most coveted demographic” just irks me every time I hear it. As if the only audience worth having is 18-34 year old males, and the shows will cease to exist, even as the audience size increases, if they don’t get enough of that one group.
And they’ll have to start “skewing their jokes a little older”? Come on. This makes it sound like they subsist on frat, beer pong, and dorm room jokes, and that sells these very funny, very smart people way short. TDS & TCR writers draw from all over the map for their material – you’re just as likely to see references to 1970′s TV, or obscure presidential history, as the latest internet meme.
Bah on them, the whole thing’s bunk. (And I say that with authority, as an over-34 female, who only watches online and thus doesn’t count on any of their measures!) Ptooey!
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100% online tv watcher here. When will tv ratings start including online viewers? It seems like a ridiculous system. It’s almost like they’re purposely leaving out huge segments of the population.
I didn’t read the whole article but agree that an older audience isn’t necessarily poison, though I understand the value of the 18-34 (kindof). And the guys will definitely not need to adjust their comedy any – if anything, they’d have to adjust to “keep up” with a cadre of younger viewers they wouldn’t automatically relate to. Jon and Stephen are old, yo!
for the record, I’m female, 34 for a few more weeks. So I guess I’m both an online uncounted viewer, AND a part of the “graying”!
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lol wtf. I watch online, so i can see it as soon as possible, because I’m from Denmark. If they get canceld I don’t know what I would do… I can’t even think about it. and wtf calling 38 and 41 year olds “Old”, what is that about? Meh… Oh and I i’m 18, so i’m “Young”
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What happens to the importance of the 18-34 views after they reach the oh-so-gray age of 35?
Oh, and what about the ratings we heard earlier this week of the supposedly prized 18-34 demo being all over the Report? Second most-watched show by males in America one night I believe?
Yeah…suck it, Dorothy. Go back to Kañansas.
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Oh wow, I’m 38.3. Freaky!!
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LOL… all the TDS and TCR fans shaking their remotes at Forbes, yelling “Who are you calling old, Sonny?!?”
When I saw this article, I was going to do a post titled “You’re not getting old. You’re getting better.” And if you know what ad that is paraphrased from, you’re at least the median TDS demo age.
And yes… if the article was really about the audience, it should include on-line viewers. But it’s about revenue made by selling ads on the broadcast of the shows, so they only care about how many eyes are on cable.
As for the 18-34 male demographic, that happens to be the one advertisers will pay the most to reach because they spend more money on products they see advertised. (Under 18 / over 34 tend to have less disposable income the theory goes.) i.e. they have cash in their pocket and advertisers know how to manipulate them to spend it (by convincing them that women are attracted to Ax body spray, for example).
MsI – I’m afraid that if the demographics start to skew older you’re going to see more erectile dysfunction ads.
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Good point about the erectile dysfunction ads. Uggggghhhh!
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LOL! True but we’ll be subjected to fewer condom, alcohol and Girls Gone Wild ads. One of the many reasons I’ve stopped going to the CN messageboard as much is the all the stupid ads.
I watch both shows on TV as they air but I’m still a little bit older than the median age for both shows. They’re getting closer though. Ha ha! This article is full of bull.
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On a shallow note, the picture with that article is hot. As long as the Emmys continue to provide photos of Jon and Stephen together, in tuxes, then they will continue to be the best awards show.
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Oh, oh . . . Forbes has been spying on me!
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+1
The way the networks cling to Nielsen ratings in the new age of online-viewing is ridiculous. The fact is that there is probably not a single college dorm room/apartment in America that’s a Nielsen household, so you already have a skewed distribution in the coveted 18-34 range.
Plus, online viewing has a significant audience and guess what: I usually have to sit through at least one commercial aimed at college-aged males when watching them! Ergo, Comedy Central is still generating ad revenue. Maybe not as much, but I’m sure that’ll change soon too.
However, I must agree that if I get less Girls Gone Wild commercials shoved in my face, my world will be a much better place for it. =)
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I do agree that online numbers at Hulu and the official site should be added because it IS a changing climate. I’m guessing Nielsen is hesitant because online video communities can be relatively disparate.
I watch TDS/TCR online a lot now because internet video is a de facto TiVo for me on the go.
Oh yeah, I don’t really get the Girls Gone Wild commercials on TV. I DO get the innuendo-laden Enzyte commercials nonstop with that “Smiling Bob” character that’s creepy as hell.
So putting up with one Transformers online commercial in comparison is a welcome change.
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Nielsen sucks ass..has for some time.
I get my shows from P2P networks; commercial free, HD quality, and no cable bill (why should I, I’m already paying $50/month for internet services).
I don’t think I ever really trusted Nielsen ratings. I’m sure that since billions of dollars of advertising revenue were at stake, somebody somewhere manipulates those things for a payout.
I would be annoyed by lots of Girls Gone Wild commercials if I were you folks…it is porn, and bad porn at that. If I want porn, I’ll download it free from the Internet as well, not pick it up intermixed with my humorous political commentary. However, some of you MUST be buying it, because that no talent @$$ clown is worth millions and pays tons of advertising dollars to Comedy Central. Stop lying and stop buying..
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