I work in the television industry and I'm learning about viewing habits outside of my own and outside of those in the media I've worked with for 15 years. I never realized how small of a minority my thought process was. Here are some of the things we've been told are consistent trends for the current 18 to 45 age bracket:
- People don't like continuous mythologies. The exceptions, like 24 or Lost, are extreme exceptions, and that audience is pretty much maximized. People prefer Law and Order or CSI -- disposable drama -- because almost every episode is self-contained. There's no obligation to watch next week.
- Reality shows connect with women because women, in general, trust reality characters more than they trust fictional characters. By that I mean when women buy in to reality characters, they don't mess around ... they commit. Women seem to enjoy testing their intuitive nature about the reality characters. Men are almost as susceptible to the reality buy-in factor when their is another adult female in the house.
- Even really smart people eschew "smart television." People with masters and doctorates don't have dramatically different viewing habits than people with less (or much less) education. However, children in homes where at least one parent has an advanced degree watch much less than children in homes where the parents are less educated.
- It's a cliche, but nowhere is the "lowest common denominator" at play more than broadcast television. Shows that are written to the "IQ 80" rule have the best chance of gaining the biggest, most diverse audience.
No real surprises I guess other than everything I like fails the test. All my favorite shows would likely fail to attract advertisers in five years, because advertisers are starting to refuse to take part in the pilot process. In the future we'll see movies to test audiences. If people like it, we might get a short season. If it's still alive after that, we might actually get a full season. This movie testing process will likely bring to an end the "season" format, with year-round testing based on people's seasonal behavior. This also means we're likely to get much less original programming as money is spent towards these movie debuts.
- People don't like continuous mythologies. The exceptions, like 24 or Lost, are extreme exceptions, and that audience is pretty much maximized. People prefer Law and Order or CSI -- disposable drama -- because almost every episode is self-contained. There's no obligation to watch next week.
- Reality shows connect with women because women, in general, trust reality characters more than they trust fictional characters. By that I mean when women buy in to reality characters, they don't mess around ... they commit. Women seem to enjoy testing their intuitive nature about the reality characters. Men are almost as susceptible to the reality buy-in factor when their is another adult female in the house.
- Even really smart people eschew "smart television." People with masters and doctorates don't have dramatically different viewing habits than people with less (or much less) education. However, children in homes where at least one parent has an advanced degree watch much less than children in homes where the parents are less educated.
- It's a cliche, but nowhere is the "lowest common denominator" at play more than broadcast television. Shows that are written to the "IQ 80" rule have the best chance of gaining the biggest, most diverse audience.
No real surprises I guess other than everything I like fails the test. All my favorite shows would likely fail to attract advertisers in five years, because advertisers are starting to refuse to take part in the pilot process. In the future we'll see movies to test audiences. If people like it, we might get a short season. If it's still alive after that, we might actually get a full season. This movie testing process will likely bring to an end the "season" format, with year-round testing based on people's seasonal behavior. This also means we're likely to get much less original programming as money is spent towards these movie debuts.
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Me too.
