• by Paul Gough , May 2, 2003

A survey of 13-24 year olds by a new-media company finds that some are being turned off by the waves of reality TV and they're starting to tire of the genre.

Bolt Inc., an online community of more than 7 million 13-24 year olds, said that in a survey, 68% acknowledged "getting tired" of TV. A similar percentage felt that the genre isn't as real as it's been billed, either.

The survey finds softness on two types in the genre, "observational" like The Osbournes on MTV and The Anna Nicole Show on E!, and competitive shows like NBC's Fear Factor. But two other genres, shows with intense audience participation like Fox's American Idol and romances like The Bachelorette and The Bachelor on ABC, seem like they have staying power with the demographic. That's good news for Fox as 91% in the survey said they plan to watch next year's American Idol.

Bolt CEO Aaron Cohen said the results have lessons for media planners.

"What our study shows is that you have to be very careful about not being too formulaic. One of the things that we did was to segment reality television itself. When you do that, you find viewer participation shows have more legs than do observational shows. Voting and viewer participation is critical for our demographic," Cohen said.

That's one of the strengths about American Idol, which Cohen said integrates television and a good online component in a way that boosts participation and buzz. Cohen said that today's youth use the Internet in general - and Bolt's online community site in particular - to talk about everything, including brands and shows. He said to think of Bolt's site as a kind of online 7-11 parking lot. The online component is important for today's young people and a meaningful way to connect audience to TV show is more important than ever today. "You have more ownership about what you're talking about when you're actively participating in it," Cohen said

"Reality television and non-reality television shows that work very hard to integrate the Internet and the show in some meaningful are likely to be more successful with this demographic," Cohen said. "The right shows use the Internet to be the watercooler conversation between episodes."

He said American Idol is the first show since Seinfeld to generate that kind of watercooler talk, although Survivor was able to do that to a lesser extent. But he said American Idol seems to have more of an emotional connection than Survivor.

Other findings:

Thirty-seven percent of youth surveyed say they are watching more reality programs than last year. Favorites include The Osbournes (18%), American Idol (16%), The Real World (16%) and Fear Factor (15%).

Sixty-one percent of women plan to watch reality TV shows next year, compared to only 40% of men.

Cohen said this demographic really wants to see quality sitcoms. The survey found that 72% watch at least two sitcoms per week. Cohen said that coming into the upfront, planners might want to take a risk on a sitcom that might resonate with the demographic, provided it's given good support from the network. "The critical point is, don't be a follower ... Try and take a leadership position," Cohen said.