Where Teens Are: Multitasking In Front Of Tube

If marketers are wondering where the teens are--such as in the case of Pepsi, which recently caused a stir over its intention to relaunch its Pepsi One low-calorie soft drink without TV advertising --advertisers can breathe a sigh of relief, a study from the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau says: the teens are just where we left them, still in front of the TV.

Still, they're not just sitting there, the study says. They're also e-mailing and Instant Messaging friends, surfing the Web, and--as one other example of a surviving tradition--they're on the phone.

An analysis of Nielsen Galaxy ratings for the first 20 weeks of the current TV season indicates that at least 500,000 more 12- to-24-year-olds are tuning into TV on a nightly basis. What's more, total day TV ratings for the segment are also on the rise. That's compared with last season, which was also a growth period for the segment. Translation: TV is attracting compound growth from this important audience.

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If anyone needs to worry about where the teens are, it's broadcasters, said Ira Sussman, CAB's vice president for research.

"There is particular growth in cable in those two targets--12- to-17-year-olds and 18- to-24-year-olds--because cable has aggressively sought out programming to offer to them," Sussman said.

While broadcast nets are pulling in fewer of these so-called elusive consumers, cable nets are driving an overall upward trend.

The net effect of a 100-channel environment where viewers hold the controls: TV is being remade. The content election of 12- to-24-year-olds represents one important example. From all appearances, these viewers are less "elusive" in the dual-brand environments on cable.

"This 'next' generation of media conquerors--multi-tasking, multi-screen, on-the-move media manipulators--were expected to shift industry paradigms," Sussman said. "With this newfound empowerment, the thought was that declines in 'traditional' media consumption--particularly that of TV--were inevitable. Instead, what we're seeing is an expansion of media consumption, with TV still in the lead. The numbers say that teens/young adults are going to the dual destination of branded storefronts on TV. This generation has only known a branded TV environment with 60+ channels. They have found how to get their needs met in TV now. If they didn't, we'd see it squarely in the numbers. Instead, we see exactly the opposite."

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