Viacom has a slew of new programs designed to attract one of the last bastions of the TV-viewing American population: old people.
At a time when American youth has given up TV in favor of the internet, Viacom's TV Land will beef up its original programs for baby boomers in their mid-40s and up, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The network has developed some new reality TV shows -- such as "The Cougar," about a forty-something woman prowling for a young bachelor -- in an attempt to win over some of the youngish-old viewers who don't watch TV Land now. The network, which basically just runs old 70s TV shows right now, will also play old episodes of "Friends" in an effort to win over the boomers.
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Even the "youth" oriented cable and brodcast channels are dominated by commercials for products aimed at geriatrics - penis pills and the like. It's something that I find a bit offensive - being slightly over 40 does not make me a doddering old fart unable to get it up - many times to the point where, and increasingly, I just use the TV as a monitor for my DVD/Blu-Ray players and computers.
That's not to say that I don't watch the programs on these channels. It's just that I wait a bit and download them for later viewing commercial free.
The broadcasters are working off an old paradigm if they think that I'm going to scurry off to be at a certain place and a certain time to watch a program. I won't and I don't have to. Equally, they're mistaken if they think that they're going to reach me with ads for mouth-drooling techophobes with one foot in the grave.
Ta' Must to the gym. Then to Sharkey's
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Why does wired continue this "only old people watch tv" BS.. Really? Last time I checked discovery and Sci-Fi are only on Cable. I have net/phone/blablabla yet I still watch tv. IF tv was in such decline why are sales of HD sets and tv's in general still strong?