• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, March 26, 2008

The Hallmark Channel has released a study it commissioned indicating the baby-boomer audience it attracts accounts for significant buying power. The network hopes that finding will seed some doubt among media buyers that the 18-to-49 demo may not be as critical to reach as conventional wisdom holds.

Furthermore, the study (by Millward Brown) shows that baby boomers (described as the 35-to-64 demo) are more "engaged" with the TV screen and less likely to switch the channel--a likely consequence of less familiarity with tech-forward products such as a DVR.

Data does show that the Hallmark Channel has very little audience erosion during commercials and performs well in the new "C3" ratings, which take into account DVR-enabled commercial-skipping.

The study was conducted via telephone and included some 1,200 cable and satellite viewers.

On the DVR-usage front, it found that some 55% of boomers feel that new technologies, such as the time-shifting devices, are "complicated," while only 31% of the younger millennial, 18-to-34 demo felt so.

Also, 45% of millennials use DVRs "regularly/fairly often" compared to 24% of boomers. And 87% of millennials indicated that when they use a DVR, they make regular use of the fast-forward functionality.

One argument circulated about the benefits of targeting 18-to-49 year-olds is their presumed brand loyalty. But the research would seem to contradict that, showing that 61% of boomers feel that in today's marketplace, "it does not pay to be loyal to one brand."