Category Archives: Media & Culture

TV is for old people

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“The median age of a broadcast or cable television viewer during the 2013-2014 TV season was 44.4 years old, a 6 percent increase in age from four years earlier. Audiences for the major broadcast network shows are much older and aging even faster, with a median age of 53.9 years old, up 7 percent from four years ago. The median age of viewers who watch CBS is 58.7 years old. Fox has the youngest broadcast audience, with a median age of 47.8 years. Live television viewing (is) down 13 percent for all ages except for viewers 55 years and older.”

Source: Research by media analyst Michael Nathanson of Moffett Nathanson Research. (WashingtonPost.com)

Gaylon Watson

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Gaylon Watson and smays
Yesterday I drove to the little town of Piedmont, in southeast Missouri, to meet Gaylon Watson. Gaylon worked at KBOA back in the fifties and I have long wanted to meet him and capture some oral history from those early days of the station where my father and I once worked. Gaylon’s eighty now but healthy and sharp as a tack. His 28 years in broadcasting covered a lot of ground and we only captured some of it in this recording.
Gaylon’s eighty now but healthy and sharp as a tack. His 28 years in broadcasting covered a lot of ground and we only captured some of it in this recording. We had to leave some on the editing room floor because of the noisy restaurant. After lunch Gaylon gave me the “Chamber of Commerce” tour of Piedmont (where he was mayor for 16 years) and then took me to meet his three dogs who live in splendor on 20 beautiful acres in the Missouri Ozarks.

The average American life, in one chart

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The kids at Vox have yet to disappoint with their graphics. Take a look at this chart.

  • The average American man lives to about 76, and the average woman until 81. In that lifespan, the average person will spend more than five decades going to school and working — with just two to three decades left over for being a toddler and retiree.
  • Americans are getting married later in life. The typical man got married at 28 in 2011, up from 22 in 1960. [I was 30 when I got married. A good decision]
  • The average length of a US marriage that ends in divorce is about seven years. [As in 7 Year Itch]
  • In 1991 and 1993, the average retirement age was 57. In 2014, that rose to 62.

Why do they skip past the commercials?

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Veteran US journalist Bob Garfield has been writing about “media chaos” for while and paints a gloomy picture for journalists, media companies and advertising agencies.

“Why do they they skip past the commercials? For the same reason he puts spam filters on his computer and refuses to click on any banner ad ever for any reason at any time,” he said. “Advertising people like to give trophies to one another for their creative genius and parade like Tony the Tiger down Madison Avenue every Fall during ad week. But if they think people love their ads they are sorely, tragically mistaken.

“For more than three centuries consumers have put up with ads. Some ads are funny and clever and some even worm their way into our heads and popular culture. But they are and have always been a nuisance. To most people all advertising is spam. The proof being that the moment technology afforded us the ability to skip them, skip them we have.”

“So if you were looking forward to a great career in media and marketing it might be a good idea to remove your belt and shoelaces. […] Asked about the future for a 30-something journalist, he said: “You are fucked,” adding that a journalist friend with years of experience now waters plants in offices for a living.

Misty Blue: Don and Suzy Akers

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Last night Barb and I drove down to the Lake of the Ozarks to listen to some long-time friends perform. We first met Don and Suzy Akers when their bar band performed at a honky tonk in the little town where we lived (Kennett, MO). They work mostly as a duo now, dividing their time between the Florida and Missouri. For 40+ years Don and Suzy have been making a living performing in small venues. Watching them, it’s obvious they’re still very much in love. And love what they’re doing. [Here’s a minute of Suzy belting out I’ll Stand by You]

Mr. Sandman

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Taisir Yanis is the proprietor of the coffee shop I haunt. He’s only a little less handsome than he thinks he is. I tried just switching the gender of the lyrics but it didn’t work somehow, so…