Still Lots of Options for Advertisers Looking to Reach Younger Viewers

By John Consoli -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/5/2012 12:53:12 PM

For media buyers negotiating with broadcast networks on behalf of their clients this week for 2012-13 primetime ad commitments, it's got to feel a bit like a supermarket out there. But what among the crop looks freshest, and what looks like it's got a fast-approaching expiration date on it? What do you pick up for the younger set, and heck, what do you want (you know who you are...and how old you are)? Nielsen viewer data from the past season indicates that there is, in fact, a cart's worth of choice among returning shows.

Advertisers looking for younger audiences can take a couple of routes. The broadcast TV series reaching the youngest median ages are on Fox's Sunday animation block, and they hit a majority of harder-to-reach males. The two youngest-skewing shows on broadcast TV are Fox's animated Family Guy and American Dad, each with a median age of 30, followed closely by Bob's Burgers and The Cleveland Show with viewer median ages of 31, and The Simpsons with a median age of 32.

The youngest-skewing live-action scripted show on broadcast TV is The CW's Gossip Girl, with a median age of 32. All of The CW's other returning shows except for Nikita have median age audiences under 40, including 90210 (33), The Vampire Diaries (34), The Secret Circle (37), America's Next Top Model (38) and Hart of Dixie and Supernatural (both 39).

For those advertisers who want to reach more than the 1.5 million viewers those shows average, some series on broadcast networks other than The CW would do the trick. The Fox sitcom New Girl, for instance, boasts a median age of 35. NBC's The Office is next lowest with a median age of 37, followed by Fox's Raising Hope and NBC's Parks and Recreation (38 each) and Fox's Glee (39); those are the only other broadcast network series with a median age audience under 40.

There aren't many that have median age audiences under 45, either. And they include: NBC's Community (41), NBC's 30 Rock and ABC's Happy Endings (43 each) and five series averaging 44: Fox's Kitchen Nightmares, ABC's Modern Family and Don't Trust the B----- in Apt. 23, and NBC's The Voice and Up All Night.

Here's a rather noticeable trend: Beyond The CW, no Big Four network dramas are included in the list. The youngest-skewing drama in broadcast primetime is NBC's Parenthood, with a median age audience of 47. ABC dramas Once Upon a Time and Grey's Anatomy, and Fox's Fringe each have a median age audience of 48, while NBC's Smash has a median age of 49. No other drama has a median age audience under 50. Fox's Touch and ABC's Private Practice come in with age 51. Fox's Bones has a median age audience of 52 and ABC's Scandal is at 54.

There's been a lot written about how CBS' sitcom Two and a Half Men is on the downswing, but its season-long ratings tell a different story. The series averaged 1 million more viewers per night in the 2011-12 season than it did in 2010-11 (12.6 million compared to 11.6 million) and its 18-49 rating this past season was a 4.2, up 20% from the previous year. Moving it to Thursday leading out of The Big Bang Theory is going to keep it strong and may even improve its numbers over this past season's.

Big Bang, by the way, showed the largest growth of any show on television (excluding The Voice, whose numbers were artificially impacted by airing its season premiere leading out of the Super Bowl). Big Bang averaged 2 million more viewers per episode this season than the 2010-11 season, averaging 13.5 million vs. 11.5 million. And it increased its 18-49 rating by 22% to a 4.4 from a 3.6.

Two Monday night CBS veteran sitcoms (in addition to Two and a Half Men) also increased their 18-49 demo ratings and viewers. How I Met Your Mother averaged 8.5 million viewers per show, up from 7.8 million, and hiked its demo rating by about 10% to a 3.4 from a 3.0. Mike & Molly averaged 10.2 million viewers vs. 10.1 million, and hiked its demo rating to a 3.2 from a 3.0.

Much has been made of the hefty audience and demo ratings losses incurred by Fox's American Idol and ABC's Dancing With the Stars. The season numbers show that Idol averaged almost six million fewer viewers on its Wednesday night competition show this past season (23.9 million vs. 18 million) and declined about 32% in the 18-49 demo (8.0 to 5.4). The declines were equally as large for the Thursday results show. Viewership also fell by almost six million (22 million to 16.4 million) and in the demo, ratings fell by about 31%, to a 4.7 from a 6.9.

The declines were almost as large for DWTS. The competition shows on Mondays averaged almost four million viewers less than the 2010-11 season (21.1 million vs. 17.3 million) while the demo rating fell 30% to a 3.1 from a 4.5. The results shows on Tuesdays averaged 2.6 million less (18 million vs. 15.4 million) and the demo rating fell 20% to a 2.9 from a 3.7.

Both shows, however, still give advertisers mass reach in an era where fragmented audiences are becoming so much more the rule. You can expect many advertisers to be willing to once again overlook the large percentage losses and still feel that these two shows are among the most watched on television. That said, media buyers might require a little more convincing when it comes to paying any kind of rate hikes for these two shows.