Top Tweets, August 17

Most-clicked tweets of mine for the past week (Twitter.com/FullerJohn):

Audience Aging

According to the latest Nielsen data, the average audience of the four major television networks is older than ever.

1. CBS median viewership is the oldest at an average 55 years old
2. ABC averaged 51 years old
3. NBC viewers are a little younger, average 49
4. The Fox audience is a relatively youthful 44

Ten years ago the average age of viewers for these networks were clearly younger by three to nine years.

Where is this leading? Check this story to see what the highest paid TV personalities make every year…powerful evidence that despite the aging audience, broadcast television isn’t likely to disappear any time soon — it remains a lucrative media channel. As long as the advertising money keeps pouring into the networks, they’ll stay in business.

Read A Paper Lately?

When was the last time you held a newspaper in your hands? I mean, held it to…read? I’m not talking about using a paper to blot us some spill in your garage, or to train the puppy, or to keep that spray paint from getting all over the place.

I’m guessing you haven’t really read a newspaper in the past two or three months. If so, you’re not alone. By most – if not all – measures – the U.S. newspaper business is dying. Except for a few major players, newspapers are bleeding money and ink all over.

The contrarian in this doomsday scenario is, most notably, The Wall Street Journal – which, by the way, has the very best newspaper app for Apple’s iPad (I wonder if the WSJ owner, media savvy Robert Murdoch, has any Apple stock?).  I’ll predict here that the WSJ will succeed, long-term, as an entity. They’ve leveraged their content all over the place, and even have the audacity to (gasp) charge customers to read their columnists and features.

Most of the print industry, though, will probably go under or just fade away slowly to irrelevance…IF it doesn’t take its cues from Mr. Murdoch and go digital.

Sample data points from a recent study the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development show the dire circumstances of the American newspaper business, especially when compared to other countries:

• Fewer than half of all adults in the United States regularly read newspapers in 2008, compared with 96 percent in Iceland.
• Advertising contributed 87 percent of newspapers’ revenues in the United States, compared with 53 percent in Germany, 50 percent in Britain and 35 percent in Japan.

In light of such stats, I wondered how much longer the industry can survive here in the U.S.

Some industry veterans are decidely pessimistic about the viability of newspapers. Here’s a site for laid off journalists to offer their “parting words” of wisdom about the biz. There’s even a website where you can donate to…

• advance the search for a support system for the kind of serious public interest reporting that our democracy requires, and that is now so threatened.

Wow.

These thoughts were prompted by some news reports, and also by my need to renew my subscription to…The Wall Street Journal. Yeah, the print edition. I am one of the few people I know of who still read a newspaper – an actual PAPER – every day.  Started this daily routine when I was about ten years-old. Not quite ready to stop reading a paper.

Are you?

The Glenn Beck Phenomena

A few years ago I read an article profiling the now uber-popular Glenn Beck. He said something that struck me, about his foray into television, books, magazines, live events, and a robust online presence, something to this effect:

Everything I’m doing (related to touring, writing, and television) is to support my radio program. The radio is how I connect with people’s hearts and minds.

Again, that’s not a direct quote but it captures his sense of the power of radio, in particular, to get a message out.  Rather than merely tapping into every media channel, Beck is using his media efforts to support and strengthen just one medium: his radio program.

Hold that thought for a moment and consider the following item. At one talk radio website it was recently suggested that Beck’s unique messaging is what really makes him special:

Beck’s own mega-success is driven by his special talent for conveying a unique personality and world view that resonates with a distinctive (and sizable) audience.  It’s not about having a TV show, radio program, book deal, newsletter, website and speaking gigs; it’s about — to paraphrase the cliche — having a very special take and being exceedingly good at sharing it via those channels.

While I think his personality and his style are compelling (or if you are a Beck-hater, I guess they are most irritating), it is Beck’s ability to really harness media – in pretty much every shape and form – effectively that has led to his wild success.

Look, an extremely talented person with no media exposure will not be well known. There are probably some great communicators out there that we’ve never heard of – and many we’ll never know. Talent alone won’t get you a huge following.

As we’ve seen, though, many people lacking in talent (can you say Snooki?) have gained popularity through their wise, or perhaps lucky, use of media channels.

So is it the personality and his/her talent, or the medium/media, that makes popularity and success possible? Obviously a combination of both! And while I like a lot of what I see in social media, and I’m a big fan of multi-media messaging, I’m still quite bullish on radio. It does what other media can’t – it typically talks 1:1 with its listeners, giving much more than information – it gives values, heart and passion. If you listen to Beck, that is what he is delivering to his radio audience. He does that somewhat on his television show and online. His live events, I’m told do connect emotionally with people. But the greatest audience for this heart (soul?) connect with people is through radio.

Just remember what we might call “The Beck Principle:” radio makes a great connection with a great audience possible.

Teens and Tweets

My 18 year-old tried it but quit, suggesting it just didn’t “do anything” for him. My 21 year-old totally shut his account down, saying he just didn’t see the point. Meanwhile, I keep plugging away at…Twitter. And recent data indicates we’re a rather normal family when it comes to tweeting.

According to a recent Pew Research Center, teens aren’t Twittering. Only 8% of teens utilize the microblogging site.

Teens DO use Facebook and other social sites, however. That same Pew report showed that 73% of young teens (ages 12 to 17) use Facebook.

Here’s a chart showing the frequency of online access by teens – nothing startling, but pretty interesting.

If you like numbers, data and trend projections, check out these twenty “mind-blowing” social media stats.

The short of all this: media messaging requires an awareness of where the intended audience is, what media they are using and where they congregate.

If “knowledge is power,” what do you know?

Advertising: Generations Switch

I thought this was an insightful article, in which the author suggests that older generations (um, like me) are holding onto our youthfulness, and Gen Y is leaving the past behind much easier. Which makes messaging all the more difficult.For instance,

Standard age-related targeting can’t be relied on any more, thanks to a new social trend: flip-flop generations. Many adolescents today are acting in ways we might expect middle-age Americans to do, while older consumers are maintaining their “adolescent” interests, outlooks and behaviors into middle age.

Get your message wrong, and you might offend the very group of people you want to reach.

Boomers Going Mobile

If you want to target your message to baby boomers, consider this:

Baby boomers are on the verge of adopting smartphones and the mobile Internet…But boomers’ mobile Internet adoption rates will be similar to their social media uptake—that is, slow.

While it is expensive, maybe you should order the full report about boomers who are going mobile from eMarketers.

Or, maybe you could guess as to why baby boomers are moving slowly toward smart phones and mobile content consumption. And no, I’m not getting any financial compensation from eMarketers for suggesting you buy their product. Just think they have some timely, helpful research.

Gen Y: Some Stats

Here are some selected stats about Generation Y, that huge demo of 18-29 year-olds,  from a recent MediaPost blog entry:

• Three-quarters have created a profile on a social networking site

• One-in-five have posted a video of themselves online

• Nearly one-in-four have a piercing in some place other than an earlobe, about six times the share of older adults who’ve done this

If you aren’t sure what to make of this, check out the entire MediaPost article.

Gen Y: Do You Know Them?

I just finished Michael McQueen’s, The New Rules Of Engagement. Its a “guide to understanding and connecting with Generation Y,” as the subtitle indicates, and it offers engaging, informative and fun insights into the kids who will shape tomorrow’s world. The author is himself a member of the Millennials, the 50 million strong generation of 18-29 year olds. They are a different breed, these kids, and you’ll find yourself appreciating the wisdom – and humor – of McQueen as he gently guides older readers into the minds and hearts of Gen Y.

Educators, employers and parents need to know this information. McQueen, who hails from Sydney, Australia, writes and speaks to thousands of young people and knows of what he speaks. Not an overly scholarly treatise, this book is a quick read that will educate and equip you to understand the kids you’re hiring, training and raising – and to tap into their creativity and power.

BTW, my 18 yr-old son heard the author speak, and was feeling rather empowered by the things shared. Seems McQueen nailed the perspectives and motivations of Gen Y pretty well!

Consider getting copy, and know you’ll find the information well worth your investment of time and money.

Media Business Changes: Publishing

With the iPad, Apple has signaled not only a new way we can access and consume our media, but they’ve also signaled a new way for media producers to monetize their products. Apple has done this before with music, and now they’re trying to do it with, of all things, book publishing.

Remember the day when you bought CDs? Whole “albums” with 10-12 songs on a disc? Hard to remember those days, I know. Apple revolutionized the purchase of music by offering $0.99 individual songs. No more buying a whole CD because you liked a song or two, and then being disappointed in the rest of the project. No more “concept albums” that wove a theme together through 10 different – but complimentary – songs. No, I just cherry-pick my favorites and pay $0.99 per tune.

They’re different, I know, music and books. And I’m not suggesting you’ll be able to grab the first and last chapters of a new novel at the iTunes Store for $0.99 each. No, there’s something else happening in the world of print (be that ink or e-ink).

When Apple announced the iPad, Steve Jobs indicated a new, strategic price plan for downloaded e-books. One with the publisher getting to set the price-point. One which gives great profit margins to the companies who find and produce the best-sellers. A pricing approach that affords the dying publishing world a breath of new life – if they can squeeze more margins out of their business model. Mr. Jobs negotiated with the major companies and – ta da! – found a price point that was appealing to them. And they, in turn, pushed back on Amazon (which has moved a lot of books at $9.99).You can bet that the publishers are feeling some new-found strength, and that there will be other changes coming.

So, look for other pricing deals to be made, and watch the other, existing e-book sellers to roll out a similar pricing tier for e-books. It could signal new life for the publishing world, one which gives them some new revenue potential. That bodes well for them, and for those of us who love books. It could breathe new life into an old-media giant that has been in need of some good news.

And we’ll have Apple to thank for it? Who’d have thunk it?