Old School

Entertainment Weekly did a story on the average age of viewers on some tv shows. Here are some of the published results:

AGE SHOW
29.0 The Simpsons
30.5 The O.C.
31.3 Veronica Mars
32.0 Everybody Hates Chris
35.6 Prison Break
42.6 Desperate Housewives
43.3 Lost
43.7 ER
45.0 Survivor
46.4 House
48.7 Medium
49.1 CSI
49.6 Two and a Half Men
51.8 Without Trace
53.0 Ghost Whisperer
54.0 Commander In Chief

Some surprises in there, no? Who would've thought that Jennifer Love Hewitt's new show (Ghost Whisperer) would draw mostly 50-year-olds?

14 comments

43.3 for LOST?????

posted by John at 2005-10-25 09:36:01

Uhhh where did they get this? It seems pretty off.

posted by Pudie at 2005-10-25 11:52:06

Current issue of Entertainment Weekly (as the post says).

posted by Rex at 2005-10-25 14:06:56

I realize that. I mean where did they get their data?

posted by Pudie at 2005-10-25 15:19:04

it seems as though, although i didn't see the article, that it would be weeded out by EW readers - who might skew the results towards their median demo? dunno.

posted by bietz at 2005-10-25 17:23:26

The stupid ew.com site doesn't have it, and of course I've thrown away the magazine by now. But I'm pretty sure they were Nielsen numbers.

posted by Rex at 2005-10-25 20:58:03

Wondering if when they mean 'watching' if that means actually sitting there and watching in _real_time_. If so, I'd guess that would skew all the ages higher.

posted by bipto at 2005-10-26 15:37:44

OT: I might be a day late, etc, but have you seen CNet's news/story/link feature? http://news.com.com/The+Big+Picture/2030-12_3-5843390.html?tag=st.bp Neato!

posted by Dave E. at 2005-10-27 18:55:14

It's mostly 50-year-olds watching TV on Friday night. Joan of Arcadia got cancelled because it had one of the oldest audiences on CBS. Interesting that the replacement is also very old. Glad to see that other 30-year-olds are watching "The O.C." I feel slightly less lame now.

posted by Jason at 2005-10-28 16:12:05

I think a 43.3 for Lost is actually a great ranking. It seems to be the median age so I guess you could say the show is attracting the widest range of viewers. That is if EW's numbers can be trusted.

posted by Joel at 2005-10-30 01:33:33

the oc for 30 year olds?! thats a joke its mostly teens who watch that one get ur stats right!

posted by melissa at 2005-11-07 09:21:16

The chart would've been better with a show date column, meaning, when are most of these shows even on? Veronica Mars & Desp. HW's are the only two my 15YO and I watch that are listed. I'm so average...*sigh*. Okay, okay, I will stop trying to be edgy and ironic RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND!

posted by melina at 2005-11-07 14:48:50

Apparently, I'm an average Veronica Mars watcher, and I'm fine with that.

posted by Ed at 2005-11-08 12:14:46

Wouldn't the number of four year olds watching The Simpsons be the reason the avg age seems so skewed or unexpected?

posted by Nav at 2005-11-09 08:36:32

Old School

Rex Sorgatz