Wednesday, February 25, 2009

More Annotations

Crafty TV Writing

Depending on the time slot depends on the type of demographic. It is obvious that a television show is going to want the highest ratings that it can achieve so they do all that they can in order to create shows that will attract the largest range of demographics. An example of this is The OC this show was considered a “co-viewing” show. It was able to gain both teenagers and adults there were both teenager problems and parent problems that continuously engaged their audience in each week to create a strong demographic. Different networks also have their own types of demographics. There are some for younger adult audiences, older adults, kids, African Americans, and women. The different networks and television shows also change with the advertisements that are shown. Each commercial reflects somewhat what the content on the show is about.


WILL H'WOOD ACT ITS AGE?

Today networks and studios seem to have mixed feelings about which demographic they should gear their television shows toward. The networks think that younger audiences watch less TV, they are not the ones with the most money or power, and they are taking longer to grow up. On the other hand they are faster to embrace new media like video games, the Internet and cell phones. They are also more likely to buy an advertisement that they see during a commercial. The young audiences also take advantage of the different connections that the networks have created for them to interact while the show is not on. They are trying to find ways that they can engage a wider range of demographics that will ultimately increase their ratings and fan base.

Thinking Outside the Box:

Rose, Brian G. Thinking Outside the Box. Ed. Gary R. Edgerton. Vol. 1. Lexington: The UP of Kentucky, 2005.

Big 6 networks show their ages

Monday, February 23, 2009

Annotations

TV starts to notice others in the room; The 18-to-49 age 'demo' may be overrated. Future programming could change greatly

For the last 20 years, the television industry has been all about young-adult demographic groups, or "demos" in the slang of Madison Avenue, because marketers have believed that young people are most likely to develop lifelong loyalties to certain brands. Today networks find it smarter to widen their demo to 18-49 year olds. This article is arguing that the young 20s and 30s demo is not that important for different networks. They talk about the fact that many of the prime time shows are watched by families that consist of a wide range of demographics. CBS is the first network to focus the majority of their shows on this concept. This source will be useful because I can use it as a point of reference and an example of how the different networks functioned in the past compared to how they are now. The networks in the 90s were basically focused on gaining the young 20s and 30s views with “Friends” and “Seinfeld”.


Why won't television grow up?

Many network television executives and advertisers do not like the fact that their audiences are growing older by the day. As a result, programming and advertisements that appeal to a huge audience of mature viewers are often viewed as unimportant, even though Americans aged 45 and older are the largest television viewing audience. One of the reasons that the networks are obsessed with pleasing young adults is that advertisers are still willing to pay a premium to reach this less affluent and shrinking group. The broadcast industry's ignorance about aging may stem from the way it chooses to receive its information. To find out about their markets, television advertisers and agencies must rely on Nielsen ratings, which are the only comprehensive source of information about television audiences. In markets where older adults are a potent and growing force, the standard Nielsen numbers do not describe viewers or their buying habits. Many of the networks are becoming concerned with the fact that their 18-49 demo is not going to be growing in the near future and the 50 and older demographic will increase more than 60 percent in the next 10 years.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Key Deomgraphics

I choose this blog by Brian Stelter on Harsh News for Networks, as Well as for People Over 50 as my topic of interest for my paper because I find it very interesting how people 50 and over are no longer key viewers. It makes me wonder why networks rule out there 50 and over population when they seem to contribute to a large part of their ratings. I am also curious as to what the networks are doing that keeps their viewers in tune with their shows.

There does seem to be one network that holds their 18 to 49 age demographic to be true except for,

“The CW who continues their median age as being 34”.

It makes me wonder if the networks think that these 18 to 49 year olds are more willing to contribute to all of the different aspects that are provided to enthrall their viewer in their shows.

Many of the other networks such as ABC and CBS have their median viewers ages range at 50 and 54. CBS is able to make up for this older demographic because they are the parent station to CW whom is taking care of their younger demographic. All of the viewers contribute something different to each station as key viewers whom help to increase their ratings.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

My "Perfect Soulmate"

With Valentines Day soon approaching I though that I would get into the holiday spirit and find my social bookmarking soulmate. With the amount of people that are on the web there is bound to be at least one person who shares the same interest as me. Much time and consideration went into the process of choosing my perfect match I finally found my soulmate on diigo.com, Matt Kramer. I found him by going on to the New York Times’ blog site and then opened on the diigo side bar to see whom else from diigo goes on that site. His name along with many other peoples’ names came up, so I proceeded to go to other sites that I have used and I noticed that his name continued to come up. So I looked on his page and noticed that we have not only have television and media in common but many other things.

The different tags that we have in common consist of NYC, movies, sports, entertainment, advertising, pop culture, food, arts, and video. His tags are all organized very well so that when people log onto his page they are able to easily identify which topics he finds to be of interest, there is also a number that appears next to each category to tell how many articles he has on it. I found interest in all of the articles and blogs that he has posted on his site. As I looked through his bookmarks and found some gems that will be very useful to me for my blogs.

Matt has almost one thousand pages bookmarked, the majority of his pages are bookmarks for the Boston Globe and the New York Times. I think that his profile will be very helpful for me to refer to it for different articles that I can use for my own blogs. He does not seem to have commented on any of the articles that he has bookmarked but he has many useful ones for me.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Blogorama #4

These three blogs have already been posted, but I have taken the time to go back and do some revision. Check them out!

TV Decoder Voice Critique

With The New York Times being my favorite newspaper and source I use to find out the latest events that are happening in the country and world I was fortunate to find out that Brian Stelter’s, a contributor to the New York Times as a media reporter, has a blog. His articles in the Times are focused on media and advertising, but he has also developed a blog called "TV Decoder", which provides insight to all things that involve the television industry. His writing is extremely professional and credible, as he represents the New York Times. Stelter’s reports on television station developments, and is able to provide quick daily stories.

First of all one of his blog's titled, “Harsh News for Networks, as Well as for People Over 50” provides information on the age demographics for each television network’s shows. He quotes many major agencies and news sources to allow his information to be creditable. This blog is proof that Brian is extremely educated, which shows his viewers that he knows what he is talking about when he quotes different media buying agencies.

He has proven to have done his research to support his claim that the majority of the networks have a significantly older fan base, even though the younger demographics tend to be the main goal that networks gear their television shows at. They also prove to be the ones that take advantage of the different ways networks have created for viewers become connected with the show and experience the way each network markets their TV shows.

In another one of Brian's blogs, “A Pirated Fount of Free TV” he talks about how accessible it is to get a hold of a bootlegged movies or television shows just by searching for it online. He states that,

“‘Heroes’ is one of the shows with the highest rated shows downloaded”.

He states that this is based on research from TorrentFreak.com, a Web site based in Germany.

Brian's blog style is presented as a report, which makes sense beceause he is a journalist. Most of his blogs are based on outside research that he has done about specific topics related to television industry. He provides quotes when they are necessary to give the researchers credit for their work that he is using. Brian’s voice is constant and does not to change from one post to another; it continues to stay factual and true to its topic in all of his work. His voice has become evident that he reports the facts and does not show any emotion or opinion of how he feels about the different subjects.

I know tht Brian’s blogs will be great amount of help for me as I continue to write my blogs. His factual information will be extremely reliable as I learn more about this television industry. I will also be able to refer to his findings in order to make my blogs just as creditable as I find his to be. Who knows maybe I'll be the next blogger for The New York Times!


Profile a Blog

The title of the blog that I will be profiling is called “Young Americans Driving Online Video Surge” by Erika Sass. This blog profiles the amount of people in between the ages of 18 and 34 who download videos online instead of watching the shows on television. The article is located in Media Post News, and is a part of their Online Media Daily section. Here their blogs are posted everyday about media related subjects.

This blog relates to my work in many ways. This blog talks about a new form of technology that the younger generations are using for their advantage. Their ability to access television shows online and to not be pressured to watch it at the time it is aired is a tactic that networks have to focus their strategy on so that they do not risk losing their viewers. This professional site and article is valuable to many network executives as they form their marketing strategies for their different shows. Many of the executives are older, and do not know what their younger audience is doing in terms of taking advantage of the different media techniques that are available to them. This blog proves from recent studies that the young population is slowly growing and showing networks that they are looking for different places to access their shows. This blog talks about the cable networks job to form websites to keep their viewers connected when it is not on. Many sites have caught on to this Internet generation and have provided their fan base with sites that allow them to interact with the shows, to make them to feel as though they have formed a bond.

This post is not significantly detailed but it has the amount of information that would be needed for networks to read to understand how the demographics all over the nation are changing. Erika Sass bloged,

“Americans ages 18-34 are roughly twice as likely to have downloaded television programs from the Web”.

This age group is extremely influential and has quickly caught on to the advancement of technology in the media. There are many positive aspects that come along with the ability to download the television programs from the Web such as having the option to watch it at viewer’s own leisure. They also do not have to go through and watch the three minute commercials during the show and have the luxury of only having to watch thirty seconds of advertisements every seven minutes.

My blogs will be different from this particular one because it will focus more on the television networks and their ability to attract this 18-34 demographic through the means of different media sources. Since all of the networks are constantly in competition with one another about who has the highest ratings the ability to find that special niche improves their viewer content which ultimately will help to lead their network to the top.


Hello

Hi my name is Jenna I am a junior transfer student from the University of Arizona, and I am now a Cinema-Television Critical Studies major at the best university in southern California, USC. Growing up I was always interested in movies and television shows and how the whole industry works. I attended Mater Dei High School, and it was there where I was first introduced to the with the opportunity to make my own short shows and have a taste of what it is like to run a morning television show. Being in that class inspired me to want to further my education in the movie and television business.

I have decided to focus my blogs on television demographics for different television network, and how the different networks use outside resources to keep them connected. I have found it very interesting that in TV shows today offer a variety of different products are exposed to their viewer in attempt to convince them to buy their product. These different stations also form websites that allow their viewers to stay connected once their show is over, which allows a relationship between the audience and the show to form a greater fan base.

In my blogs I am going to explore different television shows and their attempts at influencing their viewers through their product placement and outside material. For example the CW network has had the ability to attract a young audience, and whether they realize it or not, they are being pushed by advertisers to want their product. Different genres and age categories have the ability of being attracted through different methods; which ultimately result in the same thing, and the station reaches their rating and revenue goal. I'm excited to explore the television industry and the networks shows through different genres and age demographics with their ability to use cross promotion, product placement and outside sources to influence to attract their viewers.


Monday, February 9, 2009

Reddit Social Networking

After spending hours surfing the web and exploring different social bookmarking sites to figure what site would be most valuable to me and my readers I decided on this one called Reddit. I came across this site by Googling “television social bookmarking sites” and found a page titled “Top 10 Social Bookmarking Sites”. Here I was able to read quick descriptions of each one, then searched the different sites and saw what they had to offer.

Reddit has 1.2 million visitors in the United States with the ability to attract mostly male in between the ages of 35 and 44 with their income being very high. Another thing that caught my eye is that it said that business and entertainment do well with their audience.

On this site you are able to type in the search bar any specific type of post that you are looking for. Then a long list of different blog sites that have blogs that relate to what you are looking for. Reddit is great because you do not have to install anything in order to search around on their site. You can also create your own reddit, and post your own blogs and have the ability vote on which blogs you think are “hot or not”. There’s also a variety of other categories to choose from such as economics, science, programming, business, comics, gaming. Each of these categories are divided into different types of stories such as “hot”, “new”, “most controversial”, and “top stories”. This site is full of fun and educational blogs and has something for everyone.

This site will allow me to stay current with the information that is going on and I will be able to choose from a variety of different sites to look on. I found a blog on MGM posting movies and TV shows on YouTube, blogs like this will allow me to stay updated with changes in the entertainment business.

TV Decoder Voice Critique

I really enjoy Brian Stelter’s blogs on media and advertising; his blogs are featured on the New York Times website as a media reporter, and has also developed TV Decoder which provides insight to all things that involve the television industry. His writing is extremely professional and is creditable, being that he represents the New York Times. Stelter’s reports on television station developments, and is able to prove that his information is reliable.

First of all his blog titled, “Harsh News for Networks, as Well as for People Over 50” provides information on the age demographics for each television network’s shows. He quotes many major agencies and news sources to allow his information to be creditable. This blog shows that Brian is extremely educated, and is able to prove that he knows what he is talking about when he quotes the media buying agency, Magna Global. They say that “average age for the five broadcast stations combine to be 50 years old”. He has proven to have done his research to support his claim that the majority of the networks have a significantly older fan base. I have noticed that it is the networks goal to have a larger young demographic rather than an older one since they are not going to be taking advantage of all of their ways to become connected with the show and experience the way each network markets their television shows.

In Brian’s other blog on “A Pirated Fount of Free TV” he talks about how accessible it is to get a hold of a bootlegged movies or television shows just by searching for it online. He states that “’Heroes’ is one of the shows with the highest rated shows downloaded”, which is based on research from TorrentFreak.com, a Web site based in Germany.

It is hard to understand Brian’s voice as being anything else other than educational, and creditable. He posts most of his blogs based on outside research that he has done about a specific topic. He provides quotes when they are necessary to give the researchers credit for their work that he is using. Brian’s voice does not seem to change from one post to another; it continues to stay factual and true to its topic in all of his work. His voice has become evident that he reports the facts and does not show any emotion to how he feels about the different subjects.

Brian’s blogs have proven to me that they will be a great amount of help as I continue to write my blogs. His factual information will be extremely reliable as I learn more about this television industry. I will be able to refer to his findings in order to make my blogs just as creditable as I find his to be. Since he is associated with the New York Times it makes reading his blogs that much more enjoyable because I find the New York Times to be my favorite newspapers because it is full of so much interesting and exciting news.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Similar Blogs Commentary

As I have been searching around for other people’s blogs that relate to my topic on Television Demographics in this media generation I have come across many that have become of interest. These have provided more insight for me as I learn more about the different demographics with other networks.

One blog that caught my attention is titled “CBS: Online and TV Age Demographics”. Although this is not about the CW network I found it interesting to compare the two networks. CBS’s age demographic of 36 year olds for their online site and 53 year olds watching on television is significantly older than that of the CW. I find it interesting that CBS has such an older fan base, which makes it difficult to make the transition for them to notice their online marketing. The blog does say that the ones on their online site are between the ages of 18 and 25 but less than half of the group watch their shows when the air on the network. I find this blog site to be very interesting and helpful with providing me with ideas and guidelines for my own blogs.

This next blog talks about the ability to someday soon have the option to choose what TV shows that they can subscribe to create their own channel line up. This site is titled “The Internet and the Future of TV”; the future of TV is defiantly on its way to be something that people would never imagine would happen. The ability to have television shows to on the Internet viewed on television screens will change the way networks air their shows. Since their viewers will not be as limited to choose whether they want to watch their show on a big screen on a PC. This blog is very informative and seems to have knowledge of the new wave of technology that could soon change households all over.

The blog titled “A Pirated Fount of Free TV” provided insight to the way that networks are suffering with their television shows streaming online. They are loosing out on a lot of money with the people who are illegally downloading them online for others to view. These bootleg versions of their shows are available for people all over the world to watch which takes away the viewers from watching the shows on the network or on their own website. This blog site will be very useful for me since there is a category on the site is on media and advertising, they also seem to be very knowledgeable about their information.

The CW’s blog is extremely useful since this is the network that I am focusing most of my topics on. This specific blog, “Gossip Girl Chase Crawford Stars in PSA Campaign for Teens for Jeans”, talks about Aeropostale using the “Gossip Girl” star for a non-profit organization which will not only benefit the organization but will benefit the CW as well. This idea of allowing their star to be marketed a positive way helps the CW to gain respect and higher ratings in efforts to gain more viewers.

These blog sites contain many different authors that express their knowledge about television and its demographics. They will all be very useful for me as I continue to express my knowledge in television and its demographics.

Profile a Blog

The title of the blog that I will be profiling is called “Young Americans Driving Online Video Surge” by Erika Sass. This blog profiles the amount of people in between the ages of 18 and 34 who download videos online instead of watching the shows on the television. The article is located in Media Post News, and is apart of their Online Media Daily section. Their blogs are posted everyday about media related subjects.

This blog relates to my work in many ways, it talks about a new form of technology that the younger generation is taking advantage of. Their ability to access television shows online and to not be pressured to watch it at the time it is aired is a tactic that networks have to focus on so that they do not risk loosing their viewers. This professional site, and article is valuable to many network executives as they form their marketing strategies for their different shows. Many of the executives are older, and they do not know what their younger audience is doing in terms of taking advantage of the different media techniques that are available. This blog proves from recent studies that the young population is slowly growing to show that they look for different places to access their shows. This blog talks about the cable networks job to form sites to keep their viewers connected when it is not on. Many sites have caught on to this Internet generation and have provided their fan base with sites that allow them to interact with the shows, which makes them to feel as if they have formed a bond.

This posts is not significantly detailed but it has the amount of information that would be needed for networks to read to understand how the demographics all over the nation are changing. Erika Sass said that “Americans ages 18-34 are roughly twice as likely to have downloaded television programs from the Web”. This age group is extremely influential and has quickly caught on to the advancement of technology in the media. There are many positive aspects that come along with the ability to download the television programs from the Web such as having the option to watch it at the viewer’s own leisure. They also do not have to go through and watch all of the commercials during the show and most likely will only see thirty seconds of advertisements every seven minutes.

My site is going to be different from this because it will focus more on the CW network and their ability to attract this demographic through the means of different media sources. Although the CW does have a large amount of their viewers in between the ages of 18 and 34, they have to constantly keep up with the rising factor that they need more ways to stay connected with the show than just their once a week streaming on their network television station.