Advertising Age reported May 15th that only 1 in 4 teenagers can name the major broadcast networks. That was the headline anyway.
In the body of the article though, the reality is much more profound… it’s not just teens! It’s people up to age 34! (You know … the ones we hoped had recovered from the hormone surge and had settled down?)
Only one in four 12- to 34-year-olds can name all four major broadcast networks: ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox.
Kidding aside about the hormone surge, the facts are that the 4 major TV networks are increasingly losing their hold on America’s consumers… whether of products or information.
The finding comes via an online poll conducted by Bolt Media, a 10-year-old Web site that six weeks ago relaunched itself as a place for users to upload videos and photos. About 400 members responded to the questions, including one that asked how respondents spent their free time.
The most popular activity? That would be surfing the Internet, which 84% said they did during their idle periods. Hanging out with friends came in second at 76%, watching movies third at 71% and TV viewing fourth at 69%. The five most-watched TV networks were Fox, Comedy Central, ABC, MTV and Cartoon Network.
“There’s a massive movement going on in people under 30 and how they spend their media time,” said Bolt President Lou Kerner, who once upon a time was a cable analyst on Wall Street before leaving to run TV.com and then Bolt. “Our audience spends lots of time on net, creating their own media.”
Note, the survey is completely unscientific in its implementation.
But it jibes with what the blogosphere and the iPod generation knows… people are creating their own media.
Witness the viral videos that don’t make anyone a cent (yet) but pass so fast around the web.
If you have something to share and can spread it via blog or podcast, you have the possibility of capturing your own audience and monetizing it.
Alternatively, if you can identify your customer and then identify the media they consume, you usually can find a potentially cost effective way to reach them via advertising.
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