The Graying of the News
John Consoli
DECEMBER 09, 2002 -
A little more than a year after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks had people riveted to TV news shows, droves of viewers -- especially in younger demographic categories -- are drifting away, both from the network newscasts and 24-hour cable networks. Not surprisingly, most of the new viewers still watching are in older demo groups.
The nightly news telecasts on the three broadcast nets are all down from 2 percent to 10 percent in household ratings, season-to-date, and across all demos. Compared to two years ago, household ratings are down from 1 percent to 5 percent. In all, there are 2.5 million fewer viewers watching the three network nightly newscasts compared to last fall, according to an analysis of Nielsen Media Research data.
While NBC's newscast has held its median age at 56 over last fall, ABC's has risen to 59 from 57, and CBS' has grown to 61 from 59. The exodus by younger viewers and the aging of news telecasts is most noticeable at the broadcast prime-time news magazines. Although traditionally drawing older audiences, the news mags got a bit younger after Sept. 11.
That is now shifting back. The median age of viewers for CBS' 60 Minutes has grown to 59 from 57. In households, the news mag's ratings are down 5 percent from last season, but its 18-34 and 18-49 ratings are lower by 13 percent and 19 percent, respectively. Its 35-64 rating is up 7 percent, while its 55-plus audience is flat. CBS' 48 Hours has risen in median age to 56 from 53. While its 18-34 ratings are down and 18-49s are flat, the show has seen its 55-plus ratings grow by 25 percent.
ABC's Primetime Thursday is down 21 percent in households, with a sizable chunk of that coming from the loss of 18-34 and 18-49 viewers, down 38 percent and 40 percent, respectively, in the ratings.
NBC's Dateline Tuesday and Dateline Friday are both down in households, 3 percent and 5 percent, respectively. Dateline Tuesday is off 5 percent in 18-34 and 10 percent in 18-49, and Dateline Friday is down 2 percent in 18-49. Yet Dateline Tuesday is up 25 percent in male viewers 55-plus, and Dateline Friday is up 30 percent among male viewers in that demo and up 54 percent in females 55-plus.
"Younger people have a tendency to pay more attention to crisis events," said Brad Adgate, vp of research for Horizon Media. "Many of them have returned to watching sitcoms. As for older viewers, news programming is really a safe harbor for them. There's not much else that targets them."
On prime-time cable, most of the news networks -- CNBC, MSNBC, CNN and Headline News -- season-to-date are cumulatively averaging 1.4 million fewer viewers per night and are skewing older. Compared to two years ago, which removes the impact on viewership of Sept. 11 coverage, those news nets are still down a total of 680,000 viewers a night. The lone exception is Fox News Channel, which is up 500,000 viewers per night over last year and up 744,000 viewers over the same period in 2000.
In households, CNBC in prime is off 50 percent from last season and 33 percent from fall 2000. MSNBC is down 50 percent from last season and 25 percent from 2000. CNN is down 33 percent from last year and 20 percent from 2000. And Headline News has slipped 33 percent from last season but is flat compared to 2000. The 10 p.m. News with Brian Williams on CNBC has fallen 10 percent in households since last year and 33 percent over 2000, and the show's median age is up to 58 from 56.
CNN's Larry King now has a median age of 65, up from 62 last year, and its household ratings are off 26 percent over last year and 8 percent over 2000. NewsNight with Aaron Brown has a median age of 62, five years older than last season, and is drawing 22 percent fewer households and 33 percent fewer adults 18-49.
Driving the ratings up at Fox News Channel are The O'Reilly Factor and Hannity & Colmes. O'Reilly is up 6 percent in households over last season and 50 percent over 2000. Hannity & Colmes is up 10 percent in households over last year and 63 percent over 20