TV's Missing Men Still Flocking To Games? 94
Thanks to Ad Age for its article discussing the young male demographic's move away from television and towards videogames. The article notes: "Some 32 million 18- to 34-year-old males constitute the mother lode for a vast array of marketers. That's about one-quarter of the total U.S. male population", and goes on to quote an advertising executive as suggesting: "Games have bigger viewership numbers than The Sopranos." Also of note is a referenced Codemasters survey, which "...found that 32% of gamers were over 30 and 47% were in their 20s. It was the latest data to confirm that video gaming, once almost exclusively associated with teenagers, has become a mainstream interest that is dramatically altering the pattern of media consumption by men."
Re:Explains the shift towards female-oriented TV (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, I saw a very interesting show on this very topic. It was the Donny Deutsch show. For those of you who don't know who Mr. Deutsch is, he owns the massive Deutsch ad agency. He's kind of thought of as a rockstar in the advertising industry.
On the show, they had very prominent speaks from TV Guide, and from other places talking about how studies have shown that women make most of the spending decisions in a relationship, and thus, woman as a majority have more spending power. So in response, networks are gearing their shows towards women in hopes of drawing in advertising dollars from people who want women to see their ads.
I also just read a fascinating (albeit brief) article in the New York Times Magazine about the success of Cartoon Network, especially with Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Apparently, the grass roots feel of it, and the type of humor appeals to the "missing demographic", and men 18-35 (as have I) have been flocking there in droves. What this is leading to is a further segmentation of demographics that are reachable with one message. So before, you could just advertise on Fox if you wanted that demographic. Now if you really want them, you're going to have to advertise on Cartoon Network, but then your other audience, of women 18-35 for example, would not be reached.
I work in advertising, and I feel that these things are all contributing. Games are a rising area for this demographic. So are magazines. But the overall trend is into more specific marketing segments.