CHAT WITH ROBERT
USA TODAY’s Robert Bianco chats with readers Mondays at 2 p.m. ET at ccchat .usatoday.com. Read edited excerpts of recent chats below, or tweet early questions to @BiancoRobert and visit him live online.
Q Why do the networks keep going after the elusive (and fickle) younger crowd when us “oldsters” will stay around if they actually give us, you know, something good to watch? It seems the networks spend more and more money on terrible shows as they chase after the younger audience. A Don’t
blame the networks — or at least, don’t put most of the blame on the networks. The problem is advertisers, their use of demographics, and their desire to reach a young audience. The theory is that younger viewers are less settled in their consumer preferences and more open to ads. And all the efforts to counter that theory by arguing that older viewers have more disposable income and are more active than ever have not so far worked. Or at least not everywhere: CBS has proven that you can make money from older viewers (though in TV talk, 54 is about as old as you’re allowed to get). But in TV, as in almost all advertising-supported media, youth rules. One thing, though: It’s not quite fair to say that “old” equates with “good TV” and “young” equates with “bad.” Some of the best shows on the air can be found on CW, which is the youngest-skewing of the broadcast networks. Q What
is your reaction to Miley Cyrus joining
The Voice? Besides the obvious of trying to get the younger audience, not sure why they would not go back to Gwen Stefani,
since she is very popular. A My
professional reaction is, “Perhaps the producers were worried about bringing Stefani back as a regular now that she’s in a relationship with Blake Shelton, assuming, of course, she was interested in coming back.” My personal reaction is, “I won’t watch and I don’t care.” There might possibly be someone out there who could join the coaching panel of The Voice and get me to watch — but neither Miley Cyrus nor Gwen Stefani fills that bill. Miley Cyrus is branching out — she’ll be lending her voice to The Voice for Season 11.