Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Is It Time To Stretch The Demographic Playing Field?

Radio shares the same problem television has with the 55 to 64 year old demographic - it's virtually too old to sell. Advertisers and media buyers pay for listeners and viewers in the 18 to 49 and 25 to 54 demographic group yet the 55 to 64 year olds are the fastest growing segment of the population. Alan Wurtzel, president of NBCU Research says "marketers and buyers may be laboring under misconceptions about older consumers, an active group with a lot of buying power. Alpha Boomers-the older half of the baby boomer generation, are an important media and marketing target we can't afford to ignore." ...

NBCU Research, under the umbrella of NBC Universal gave a press preview yesterday of a presentation they'll be making Thursday to advertisers and ad buyers about the invisible Alpha Boomers. Wurtzel told Broadcasting Cable, the presentation is not designed to change the currency of the business overnight. The presentation is designed to start a conversation. "Until Madison Avenue tells us differently, 18-49 and 25 to 54 is our currency and we'll try to deliver it." CBS, the oldest skewing network, previously made an issue of the value of older consumers, but the business of buying media based largely on 18 to 49 year olds didn't change. More recently TVLand has made presentations detailing how active baby-boomer consumers are with no demographic changes made or expected...

I hope radio has its eyes wide-open in observing what steps television is making to change the culture of acceptable demographics. As Wurtzel revealed to MediaWeek, "Nielsen age demo ratings groups, which stop at 54, were invented 50 years ago and are outdated."

10 Timeline Memories:
1.1961] Batday: The Boston Patriots beat the Dallas Texans 28-21 at Braves Field when a fan sneaks onto the field and bats away Dallas QB Cotton Davidson's pass into the end zone as time runs out. The play stands, the Patriots win (we love these endings especially when the home team wins. Remember when that convict on work patrol cleared a spot on the field for a winning field goal ? Then there's the "tuck rule" imposed to favor Tom Brady in a big game against Oakland). We love this stuff...
2.1971] Premiered on this date: "Play Misty For Me" starring Clint Eastwood. Every disc jockey's worst nightmare...1978] "Different Strokes" begins for 8 successful seasons...
3.1979] Wedding Bells: James Taylor and Carly Simon tie the knot in Carly's Manhattan apartment. Sadly they separate in 1982 and divorce in 1983. Ben Taylor talks about his parents...
4.1986] Breaking the story: A Lebanese magazine breaks the story of U.S. arms sales to Iran, which exposes the Iran-Contra affair...
5.1988] Breaking the nose: Geraldo Rivera breaks his nose in an on-camera brawl with skinheads. I didn't know who to root for in this fight...
6.1992] Two big winners on Election Day: Bill Clinton is elected our 42nd President, defeating President George H.W. Bush (and) Illinois Democrat Carol Moseley-Braun becomes the 1st black woman elected to the U.S. Senate...
7.1994] Guilty as charged: Susan Smith is arrested for drowning her two young sons, 9 days after claiming the children had been kidnapped. She's still serving life without parole in prison...
8.1999] Guilty as charged II: Aaron McKinney is convicted of murder in the beating of gay Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard. McKinney and Russell Henderson are each serving life in prison for the 1998 murder...
9.2004] A political first: Hamid Karzai is declared the winner of Afghanistan's first-ever presidential election. Apparently he was just re-elected...
10.2005] Scooter is busted: VP Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby pleads not guilty to a five-count felony indictment in the CIA leak case. Libby is convicted and sentenced to 30-months in prison but 'W' commutes his sentence...

Music Memories:

In Memory Of:

Charlie O'Donnell, 78, legendary announcer for Wheel of Fortune, passed away on Monday. For 28 years, Charlie was the voice behind Wheel of Fortune but was also Dick Clark's announcer on American Bandstand prior to that. That job led to a career in radio for Charlie. When WOR-FM changed format from free-form to top 40 in 1967, Charlie was the first morning man. He left New York for Los Angeles to become a top-rated disc jockey at KRLA and a lengthy career in both radio and television. Charlie's great voice will be missed. He is survived by his wife Ellen, his four children and two grandchildren...

Commentary:

Join host Marla Sitten and award-winning songwriters Dave Gibson, Wynn Varble and Chris Wallin for a fall songwriting seminar at Jim Oliver's Smoke House in beautiful Monteagle, Tennessee, Friday, November 5 through Sunday, November 7, 2010. For additional information, visit http://thesmokehouse.com/...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Elizabeth Smart (23), Phil Simms (55), Adam Ant (56), Kate Capshaw (57), Dennis Miller (57), Roseanne Barr (58), Dwight Evans (59), Larry Holmes (61), Lulu (62), Shadoe Stevens (64), J.D. Souther (65), Michael S. Dukakis (77) and Bob Feller (92)..

Timeline Countdown: 3 nights until standard time (clocks go back one hour), 22 days until Thanksgiving, 28 days until Hanukah, 48 days until winter and 51 days until Christmas...




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