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TV is increasingly for old people

washingtonpost.com

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Re: TV is increasingly for old people

#11

Post by bellerocky »

Sambdala wrote: post #7

> And he’s part of one camp that believes young professionals and students will eventually become cable subscribers. > “We suspect they will trade up,” Skipper said. The implication here seems to be that cable is the premium/preferred product, and people will switch to it once they can afford a cable subscription. That does not at all strike me as being the case in this day and age. The internet, and piracy, created…

Yeah wow, Skipper is holding on to a legacy business that going to get disrupted from top to bottom. How do they not see that incredibly expensive cable subscriptions that provide scheduled broadcasts with filled with patronizing advertisements is somehow better than something like Netflix, YouTube or LiveStream?

Re: TV is increasingly for old people

#12

Post by bronbron »

tedks wrote: post #9
themartorana wrote: post #2

The plethora and popularity of reality TV doesn't say much about our older generations. Sarcasm aside, the relative popularities of Fox News on TV and Vice on the Internet are pretty good examples of what this article is talking about.

In my experience, only people above 30 watch reality shows. Virtually all reality shows are for old people. Real Housewives, everything on HGTV, everything on the History and Discovery channel... the only network that's associated with youth that has reality shows I can think of is MTV, but even that is probably more watched by aging men trying desperately to relive their cool days.

That's funny, my experience has been the complete opposite.

Re: TV is increasingly for old people

#13

Post by bluedino »

Sambdala wrote: post #7

> And he’s part of one camp that believes young professionals and students will eventually become cable subscribers. > “We suspect they will trade up,” Skipper said. The implication here seems to be that cable is the premium/preferred product, and people will switch to it once they can afford a cable subscription. That does not at all strike me as being the case in this day and age. The internet, and piracy, created…

>> When you pay for cable or watch broadcast TV, you then not only have to wait for the scheduled viewing time, but you spend half as much time watching commercials as you do watching the actual program

Hulu+

I've had it for quite a while, beats having to be at home on a certain time to watch a show and also cuts the commercials way down.

Re: TV is increasingly for old people

#14

Post by walshemj »

bellerocky wrote: post #10

I don't understand why older people hang on to less optimal way of doing things? I hope I never do this. Being able to watch content at any time you want is better than having to schedule your time around broadcasts. No advertisements is better than having to endure advertisement breaks in the middle of a show. Same with newspapers. You can't share newspaper content easily. You can't click on a word and Google it or…

Because in a lot of ways a decent smart TV at say 50 inches with iPlayer is lot less fuss than messing about with a pc and a much smaller display an suboptimal sound.

Re: TV is increasingly for old people

#15

Post by bronbron »

Sambdala wrote: post #7

> And he’s part of one camp that believes young professionals and students will eventually become cable subscribers. > “We suspect they will trade up,” Skipper said. The implication here seems to be that cable is the premium/preferred product, and people will switch to it once they can afford a cable subscription. That does not at all strike me as being the case in this day and age. The internet, and piracy, created…

It's worth considering that he's with ESPN, and sports is an unusual case.

Television shows and movies don't have nearly the timeliness factor sports broadcasting has. If I see guardians of the galaxy a week after it comes out it doesn't really matter, but there's very little point in watching 'the game' even a day after the fact (unless there's some exceptional reason to).

So in some regards, they do have kind of a stranglehold and are holding out hope that they can capitalize on that. It's funny talking to cable subscribers < 40, because (obviously anecdotal) the majority of the reasons given are 'how else am I going to watch sports?'

Re: TV is increasingly for old people

#16

Post by bluedino »

bellerocky wrote: post #10

I don't understand why older people hang on to less optimal way of doing things? I hope I never do this. Being able to watch content at any time you want is better than having to schedule your time around broadcasts. No advertisements is better than having to endure advertisement breaks in the middle of a show. Same with newspapers. You can't share newspaper content easily. You can't click on a word and Google it or…

>> I don't understand why older people hang on to less optimal way of doing things?

They have less to do, and probably don't care as much about maximizing every minute of their day. They probably also like a routine. Dinner at 5:00p, Matlock at 6:00p...

>> Newspapers take up space in your house and unread newspapers are a huge waste. I

You can also read a newspaper if you don't have internet, or your internet connection is slow, or down, or you can read it out on the porch or the boat where your wifi doesn't reach, you don't need an iPad to read it...

You also can't line the bottom of a birdcage, pack dishes, wash windows, or get a fire going with an online newspaper. You also can't cut an article out to save or pin up on the fridge.

Re: TV is increasingly for old people

#17

Post by walshemj »

bronbron wrote: post #12
tedks wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience, only people above 30 watch reality shows. Virtually all reality shows are for old people. Real Housewives, everything on HGTV, everything on the History and Discovery channel... the only network that's associated with youth that has reality shows I can think of is MTV, but even that is probably more watched by aging men trying desperately to relive their cool days.

That's funny, my experience has been the complete opposite.

Yes TOWI, BB etcetera are your younger and lower social class C2, D and E using the NRS system.

Re: TV is increasingly for old people

#18

Post by walshemj »

Theodores wrote: post #5

Same in the UK, average age of viewers on BBC is 59-60: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/news/press_releases/2014/telev... I shudder to think what the average age is of broadsheet newspaper readers is...

Well makes the competition for the top jobs easier top Investment Banks and fast track Civil service still expect a rounded renaissance man or woman - its not that long ago that you where advised by school and parent's to say that you read a broadsheet in an interview.

I suspect that it helps in Oxbridge and Ivy Entrance interviews as well

Re: TV is increasingly for old people

#19

Post by kylec »

Sambdala wrote: post #7

> And he’s part of one camp that believes young professionals and students will eventually become cable subscribers. > “We suspect they will trade up,” Skipper said. The implication here seems to be that cable is the premium/preferred product, and people will switch to it once they can afford a cable subscription. That does not at all strike me as being the case in this day and age. The internet, and piracy, created…

In college I lived in an apartment that provided cable TV as part of the rent and I never hooked it up. Even though it literally cost me nothing, I still wasn't interested. I preferred the flexibility of Netflix (and pirating) to watch what I wanted, when I wanted, and the fact that a full third of airtime on cable is dedicated to showing commercials is a huge turn-off for me.
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