• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, November 9, 2006

Some prime-time TV writers don't seem to have their TV business jargon down. Or are they sending us a message?

A recent episode of "Brothers & Sisters" has the producer of a TV talk show featuring Calista Flockhart's Republican pundit character, Kitty Walker, worried about one of the show's poor performing demographics.

He says the show suffers among the 18-35 demographic. 18-35?  Hmm.... This is a new one on us.  We can only realize that this must be a metaphor for the ABC show--in that it just misses the mark.  Tell the show's writers it's the 18-34 demographic.

TV news talk programs generally never worry over losing that young 18-34 demographic--unless perhaps it airs on the new Al Gore-backed alternative news cable network, Current.

A TV news show would be lucky, in fact, to get the 18-49 viewer tuned in. More than likely, the news talk show on "Brothers & Sisters"--like that of shows on Fox News, CNN or MSNBC--would focus on viewers 25-54. Even then, many cable news networks' median age is typically around 60 years old.

One of "Brothers & Sisters'" themes is to weave some broad political storylines from Flockhart's character into her ongoing dysfunctional family situations--whether it's about the war in Iraq or family planning. ABC upped its commitment to the new show due to the show's gradually improved ratings in recent weeks.

Maybe there's a joke in here somewhere--with a wink and a nod. The supposed 18-35 demographic wouldn't be the demo for the show "Brothers & Sisters," either. Like most prime-time network shows, it focuses on grabbing 18-49 viewers, or 18-49 upscale income viewers that networks can sell to advertisers for a nice premium.

Perhaps it was a conveniently intended mistake, making us realize that these audience breakdowns are long outmoded: 18-27, 18-48 and 18-51 would work equally as well.