In advertising, etc there's the idea of the "lost demographic." This isn't a new idea, but basically, the idea is that males 18-40ish are no longer engaging in the "popular" media the way they once did. Advertisers are having a hard time figuring out what these guys are doing, and what they are watching, reading, spending their time with.
I'd argue that anyone 30-something or under, and who hasn't been sleeping under a rock, knows what happened, and I think its the changing face of media:
1. Ta-da! Teh interweb! Thank you, Al Gore! If people are reading a blog, they get it, I won't expand on this, only to say that if you've got an internet connection at home, why in the world would you pay for a newspaper to be delivered?
2. Video games. As games like World of Warcraft increase (5.5 million players worldwide), and overall sales of video games and consoles increase roughly 10% a year, this seems to be a place where people are looking for entertainment.
3. Cable news & sports. And by this I mean stuff like the Daily Show, and ESPN.
4. Podcasts, videocasts and emerging media. Our age group likes gizmos and technology. I tend to listen to a lot of podcasts on my way to work. Again, these are free (for the most part), interesting, and educational. While some have ads, I can fast forward through them.
I think that as there are more ways of obtaining news and entertainment, the lost demographic will spread out and become even harder to track down. This might be good, as it opens the door for small companies or news agencies to get a start, and the internet offers a level playing field as far as cost (its cheap).
This topic interests me because I think even though I'm a female, I'm also part of this lost demographic. (I know, an Onion headline: White female, 34, joins Lost Demographic) . I don't watch the news because its sensationalized and so watered down that its lost its meaning. Movies suck, and have become a whirlwind of sequels, remakes and live-action comic book screen-plays. I get one magazine (Real Simple), and it seems to recycle its stories on about an annual rotation, so I'm not sure how much longer I'll keep it. I heart my iPod. I get news stories from the internet.
I'd argue that anyone 30-something or under, and who hasn't been sleeping under a rock, knows what happened, and I think its the changing face of media:
1. Ta-da! Teh interweb! Thank you, Al Gore! If people are reading a blog, they get it, I won't expand on this, only to say that if you've got an internet connection at home, why in the world would you pay for a newspaper to be delivered?
2. Video games. As games like World of Warcraft increase (5.5 million players worldwide), and overall sales of video games and consoles increase roughly 10% a year, this seems to be a place where people are looking for entertainment.
3. Cable news & sports. And by this I mean stuff like the Daily Show, and ESPN.
4. Podcasts, videocasts and emerging media. Our age group likes gizmos and technology. I tend to listen to a lot of podcasts on my way to work. Again, these are free (for the most part), interesting, and educational. While some have ads, I can fast forward through them.
I think that as there are more ways of obtaining news and entertainment, the lost demographic will spread out and become even harder to track down. This might be good, as it opens the door for small companies or news agencies to get a start, and the internet offers a level playing field as far as cost (its cheap).
This topic interests me because I think even though I'm a female, I'm also part of this lost demographic. (I know, an Onion headline: White female, 34, joins Lost Demographic) . I don't watch the news because its sensationalized and so watered down that its lost its meaning. Movies suck, and have become a whirlwind of sequels, remakes and live-action comic book screen-plays. I get one magazine (Real Simple), and it seems to recycle its stories on about an annual rotation, so I'm not sure how much longer I'll keep it. I heart my iPod. I get news stories from the internet.
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