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It’s Not the Mainstream Media ... It’s the OLD News

The average age of Fox News watchers is 65. As Hollywood Reporter notes:
In a survey released by analyst Steve Sternberg, Fox News has the oldest audience among fully distributed cable networks. The network’s average viewer last season was 65 years old, according to Nielsen. Heck, it’s viewers are even older than viewers of Hallmark Channel, Military Channel and Golf Channel.
Hollywood Reporter notes that the other corporate news networks are greying as well:
CNN wasn’t far behind, though — its average audience was 63. MSNBC was a perky 59.
State of the Media points out:
The Pew Research Center’s biennial consumption survey is conducted in even years. In 2010, the average age of a regular evening news consumer was 53, seven years older than the average American.
This is largely due to the greying of tv audiences in general as Baby Boomers age.
This graphic (courtesy of Ed Stephan) shows the U.S. age pyramid from from 1950 through 2050:
male female Population of the United States, by Age and Sex,
1950-2050 (millions)information source: International Data Base, U.S. Census Bureau;
supplied pyramids were modified using Canvas, GraphicConverter and GIFBuilder.
[If you can't see the dates at the bottom of the pyramid, click here].
As the National Institutes of Health notes:
The first of the postwar baby boom cohort, born 1946–1964, will turn 55 years in 2001. In just three decades, an extraordinary change in the age structure of the United States is anticipated. By 2030, one in five persons (20% of the U.S. population) will be aged 65 or older, increasing from the present ratio of one in nine persons (12.8%). The number of persons in the 65 and older age group will more than double, increasing from the current 34 million persons to 70 million persons. Moreover, within the older segment of the population, because of longer life expectancy and additional persons reaching older ages, there will be age shifts resulting in the 85 and older population more than doubling in size from 4.3 million persons to approximately 8.9 million persons.
(See this and this for the effect of an aging population on the economy.)
So the average aged viewer will keep on rising for news conveyed on the “dinosaur media“.
And the young get their news more from the web, including mobile devices and social media.
A 2012 study by Pew found (via Poynter):
TV remains the most popular source of news, but its audience is aging: “Only about a third (34%) of those younger than 30 say they watched TV news yesterday; in 2006, nearly half of young people (49%) said they watched TV news the prior day,” the report says.
Twenty-eight percent of people 18-29 reported they watched local news regularly. In 2006, the report notes, that figure was 42 percent.
***
More people under 25 get news from digital (60 percent) than “traditional” sources such as TV, radio and print (43 percent).
But it’s also a question of loss of interest in all news sources by young people. For example, Pew finds (with commentary from Poynter):
Fully 29% of those younger than 25 say they got no news yesterday either from digital news platforms, including cell phones and social networks, or traditional news platforms. That is little changed from 33% in 2010.
As before, the time people 18-29 spend consuming news, on average, is far lower than other groups. News sources are competing with social networking for the attention of people under 25, the study found: “as many used Facebook or another social networking site yesterday as got news from all sources combined (76% vs. 71%).”
Only 5 percent of people under 30 reported they follow news about “political figures and events in Washington” very closely.
The root problem is that young people have lost trust in the “old” media … and in the political system.
The dinosaur media is always pro-war, and happily trumpets disinformation about supposed enemies to drum up support for new wars. Even after the Iraq WMD propaganda was thoroughly debunked, the old media is at it again (and then there’s war-o-tainment.)
Old media also spouts economic propaganda on a daily basis.
The young people aren’t buying it… No wonder a funny man – Jon Stewart - is the main tv news source for young people.
Postscript: Given that the top experts in every field have their own blogs, people who want real news can cut out the middleman ... and read the experts' insights direct and unfiltered. See this, this and this.
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WTOP gives you traffic on the 8's, six times an hour. Very useful.
Just out of interest what's the average age on ZeroHedge? I noticed several posts from folks who were in the Vietnam War, I was in my momma's belly when that happened.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2niwYItxmBU
26 years old here.. there's some mid-twentys people I've seen here on Zero Hedge. Sadly, 99% percent of the people I talk to my age are just utterly politically and economically uneducated. They're all indoctrinated I've learned..... there's just too many that didn't even know QE4 was announced today and what it was. It's very sad to say the least. I was talking to a 70+ year old woman today and just learned for the first time that the Fed is privately owned by banks and other foreign corporations... sigh.
Time to expand yer horizons:
"The Creature From Jekyll Island, a Second Look at the Federal System", 5th Ed., G. Edward Griffin, ISBN: 978-0-912986-45-6
"Dreams Come Due, Government and Economics as if Freedom Mattered", ISBN: 0-671-61159-3, by John Galt -- The book is dated, but many of the things it talks about are still valid today.
"The Dirty Dozen, How Twelve Supreme Court Cases Radically Expanded Government and Eroded Freedom", ISBN: 978-1-935308-27
"The Big Short" by Michael Lewis, ISBN: 978-0-393-07223-5
"Economics in One Lesson", ISBN: 978-0-517-54823-3, by Henry Hazlitt
folks who were in the Vietnam War, I was in my momma's belly when that happened.
It is a shame that LBJ was not taking a dirt nap back in those days.
Wait a sec...
That's not "the root problem", that's nearer the solution.
"The root problem" is the dishonesty and incompetence among politicians, and journalists.
It's as if mainstream media is at war with the American people. Brutal social engineering bulling reporters always barking at the audience to accept their opinion on everything. Their opinion on virtually everything has no value. MSNBC is total Queer Eye for the Insane Guy news, always pushing the gay agenda and globalist Agenda 21. CNN had 20 million viewers at the peak for their viewer ship at prime time in their hay day. That's down to 500k now. FOX news is the War Salesman channel, sick. MSM can't reach critical brainwashing mass anymore, Thank the Creator.
ALL of TV is sh*t. The drop in CNN's audience is staggering. I try to avoid all TV especially CNN. I want to projectile vomit in airports when i run into CNN's sh*t. I pretty much stopped flying to avoid Obam/Napolitano irradiating me and groping me.
I tell conservatives all the time that Fox News is NOT your friend. Freedom loving people have no friends on TV.
ALL TV and All of Hollywood are dog sh*t. Filled with leftist racist scum like Jamie Foxx, Samuel Jackson and Alec Baldwin. F all of them.
Fellow conservatives, Fox isn't your friend and Drudge isn't either. Both of them used their media power to get Romney the nomination. Romney lost, but he spent so much on ads that Fox and Drudge laughed all the way to the bank. And that in a nutshell, it why they made sure he got the nomination.
I agree. Turn the TV off and go find news sources you find interesting and helpful. We all need to make the effort, and not to depend on being spoon fed by our Massas. Every person who does this is one more person unhooked from the matrix. This is a battle for the hearts and minds of one person at a time. Together we will reach the tipping point.
I dropped TV and Hollywood a long time ago. I got sick of the endless brainwashing and the endless evil and dumb white male crap.
F TV and F Hollywood.
It definitely gives me hope for the future that the young are giving up on the heavily propagandized TV news.
The young don't do any news, where's the hope in that?
+1 But all the media/news is crap especially anything on TV.
+100 Best avatar picture ever.
Hey George - ALL of TV and ALL of Hollywood are scum promoting their brainwashing and our dear mullah.
Do you watch? If so you enable them. The old ***ks and Baby Boomers are hopeless from the TV generation. The young went for the islamic in even bigger numbers so their midless serfs too.
Freddie, who are you referring to? If it's Obama, he's just another god damned Christian. The Moslems don't like banks, lending for interest is against their religion.
Obama a Christian?
Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than living in a garage makes you an automobile.
Good point.
This also means that only about 5% of the US is Christian.
Young people understand that "if you get a product for free, then you are the product".
The problem for newspapers (and TV) is a lack of accountability. Newspapers get 80% of revenue from corporate advertisers (100% for TV).
Which means the advertisers are the real customer, and the newspaper/TV signal is just media, used to deliver the real product (your eyeballs) to the real customer.
Until or unless TPTB shift the playing field, say by getting rid of Internet Parity, the slow bleed of viewers will continue, with young people increasingly going to MORE accountable sources of news that get MORE of their funding from the readers. not corporations.
I'm sure Buffet is furiously lobbying to get the FCC to allow tiers to Internet access speeds.
Good insights. Books, music, and movies are made for consumers. Magazines, TV, and Newspapers are produced, almost entirely for advertisers. I'm continually amazed at how out of touch Madison Ave and the Corporate crowd are.
Nationwide has an add featuring the whole neighborhood getting together to lift an enormous tree trunk that fell across a front yard. Try it morons, I dare ya. While you're at it, get enough men around a tractor to lift one. Good luck with that. Fucking idiots don't even know anyone who does real work or how much the rest of the country hate's their guts.
Looks like the youger folks may have realized the MSM is pretty much all made up/severly filtered, plus thay can find stuff faster on the internet.
dont use light yellow in any chart - way too difficult for the old people to see.
They use color?
You gotta be ....
I watch the evening news, and NBR. But I did not have to read it here. One need only look at who is buying advertising time, to know who the viewers are.
Wanna know why old people suck, and are stupidly (or sweetfully) naive?
Turn on the television.
TV Generation of morons who loved Uncle Walter Cronkike - the grandfatherly stalinesque propaganist lefty. F TV and Hollywood. It is all brainwashing.
Get da Hell offa my lawn!
Dragging paralyzed foot as hopping toward him with baseball bat.
Nope. Riding a "free" Scooter Store Scooter, and whipping him with the orange safety flag.
only thing I watch on TV now is sports and an occaisional movie - I'm in my 50's - the rest is trash
amen, I havn't watched network news of any stripe in 15 + years. Between the obvious political slants and the pucking advertising it was time to turn that crap off. Plus watching "Married With Children" reruns always reminds me of my place in the universe.
Yeah, I don't even watch tv for anything or get my news from television anymore, but I'll turn it on when I have company over.
Thank goodness for the internet and different opinions, rather than the garbage broadcasted on a daily basis perpetuating status-quo and a housing recovery. I can't stand watching commercials because they are aimed at a 5th grade of intellect and understanding. BUY BUY BUY, CONSUME CONSUME CONSUME.
Fuck off, I'll take ZH and peace and quiet over the tripe that comes over television.
you'll do your friends a favor if you keep the boob tube off when they come over.
friends who need the distraction of TV are below your intelligence level
Hard to find intelligent friends no a days....
die dinosuar whore presstitute media, die
DEATH TO VIDEO DROME
LONG LIVE THE ZERO HEDGE
Some audience numbers would help from a perspective point of view? You might get a surprise.
If I want to know what the issues are on the right and the left, half an hour of Fox and the same of MSNBC is a quick and easy way to find out all the latest "Talking points" from the talking heads. No substance of course, just talking points which is the same as propoganda.
Parrots (MSM) on pirates' (Gummint) shoulders.
Edit: Argh!
Of course all those stations have grey-haired audiences.
Everyone under the age of 65 is either working their asses to the bone to support them or faxing out their resume trying to get back into the labor force.
Who has time to sit in front of the tube these days? No one with an office job -- it's the new 1890s: if you don't come in on Sunday....
Wrong young ham. Much of the under 65 crowd is collecting gov bennies and complaining about those over 65 who are actually working. Your sacred government is going to give you such a thorough ass-reaming you'll never hear yourself fart again. Of course, you wouldn't want to audibly fart near Barney Frank as he would get aroused by the presence of a virgin. So there is that advantage. What does Barney Frank have to do with this topic?nothing
Manic, I got to this thread late.. different timezone.
That was rather funny. Barney Frank kinda reminds of THE GIMP in plup fiction. Actually, thinking about it Barney may have done a cameo? He would have been a natural.
+1000!
You just gave your age away saying your "faxing out your resume." Do faxes even exist anymore?
yep, they exist ... the ones I have to use once in awhile convert the fax to a pdf and send it back to you via email though. Then the pdf is then printed out and sent via the teleporter device so the recipient can have a hard copy ... so much better than a fax. /snark. Funny how there are supposed to be 3 million job openings (some claim on the radio for some virtual school no doubt) and with the 22 million out of work or underemployed there isn't a single one qualified for the jobs. Kind of odd
Probably exists, but goes straight to the trash at my business. Only thing worse is leaving a voice mail. Who listens to voice mails any more? Sheesh....
"Of course all those stations have grey-haired audiences"
"audiences" is kind of a stretch.
the tv in our rooms at the assisted-living center is tuned to fox during dinner (4pm), but the girl changes it to wheel of fortune at bedtime.
so there. you smart-aleck whippersnappers.
Does Vanna White have a scooter chair yet??
OH, hush my mouth, I was thinking of Hillary.
Yo damn right. I be own mah Obommiephone all de day contakin my po-tent-shul en-ployers fo daat job.
Iz gots no times fo dat telebizhun.
Who watch dem whitey cracker ass muthafuckahs anyhow?
Fox?
You say Jammie Fox?
You dis him?
He say he cum shoot you all honkeys...
Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeit
You're watching too much Black Entertainment Television, and not drinking enough, Knucks.
True story -
Hack writer, Pete Hamill, said he retired from drinking in 1971...,with the title;)