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Television Communications Media Network The Internet Entertainment

Younger Millennials Don't Know What Networks Are Responsible For TV Shows, Unless It's Netflix (thenextweb.com) 185

Posted by BeauHD from the internet-killed-television dept.
According to a new report from consulting firm Anatomy Media, millennials aren't able to identify the networks responsible for some of the most popular television shows, unless they're created by Netflix. The report indicates that most viewers age 18-26 can't match television shows from ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, or Disney to to their respective networks. The Next Web reports: This means Jessica Jones is more likely to resonate with millennials as Netflix original programming than Empire does as a Fox network show. 65-percent of the respondents were able to identify a Netflix show correctly, compared to only 31-percent able to do so for other networks' programming. It was even worse for Amazon -- only 20-percent of the young adults could match its shows correctly. The most coveted demographic in television marketing cares twice as much about Netflix as any other provider -- and nobody cares about Amazon's original programming. A different survey conducted by Fluent Insights asked 3,100 millennials about their television viewing habits: half said they watched television exclusively on mobile or desktop platforms.
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Younger Millennials Don't Know What Networks Are Responsible For TV Shows, Unless It's Netflix More

Younger Millennials Don't Know What Networks Are Responsible For TV Shows, Unless It's Netflix

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  • This is so awesome (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    This is so awesome because it proves traditional networks are dead. Everybody should dump their stock of any company that hasn't invested in it's own programming.

  • Pretty easy rule of thumb (Score:3)

    by EnsilZah ( 575600 ) <EnsilZah@@@Gmail...com> on Saturday June 10, 2017 @05:17AM (#54590661)

    If you can download the whole new season all at once, it's probably Netflix.

    • Re:Pretty easy rule of thumb (Score:5, Informative)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Saturday June 10, 2017 @05:24AM (#54590669) Homepage Journal

      There are only two networks: Netflix and The Pirate Bay.

      • Re:Pretty easy rule of thumb (Score:5, Insightful)

        by JaredOfEuropa ( 526365 ) on Saturday June 10, 2017 @05:53AM (#54590723) Journal
        This, absolutely. It's not about millennials being too dumb to know about TV stations, and it's not just millennials either; I suspect this holds true for most cord-cutters out there. When those people watch series, it's either VOD on Netflix, or it's episodes they've pulled off TPB, some streaming site, or from Usenet via Sickbeard. Who wants to have to watch a show at a specific time of day, and be forced to watch a whole buch of crap commercials besides?

        I wonder about the different results for Amazon though, and I'd like to know what the results are for HBO original programming. The thing is, Netflix shows are very prominently branded at the start of the show. HBO does the same (does Amazon?). In contrast, most network content might show some vague little clip at the end of the show to indicate the producing channel; which people who downloaded the show might not even see.

        • Yes, Amazon does branding at the beginning of their shows. They also show you ads for their shows when you watch their other shows. Fuckers. I do not want ads, I do not give a shit of what kind, they are all garbage and whoever decided they should play on Amazon needs a foot in their arsehole.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by markus ( 2264 )

            This is one of the two complaints that I have with Amazon. The intro ads are annoying and each time I watch a movie on Amazon they serve to remind me, why I hated doing so the last time round.

            The other problem is the FireTV user interface. It really needs a serious UI overhaul. I always find myself randomly mashing buttons until I can figure out how to watch the show that I want to see. There are so many bad UI design choices, it's not even funny.

        • "most network content might show some vague little clip at the end of the show to indicate the producing channel"

          Most network content has a channel bug that stays in the corner for the entire show.

          • that stays in the corner for the entire show.

            They do that for every show, not just their own original content, so that's hardly a distinguishing feature.

      • I prefer Zooqle compared to TPB as it shows the media info of the file and it groups the torrents by resolution for each episode.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by dbIII ( 701233 )
      Here's another.
      If they don't cancel something arbitrarily mid-season whether it's good or not, it's probably Netflix.

  • Jessica Jones (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Who? This only matters to TV executives. It's really a "...with a computer" kind of thing. Old wine in new skins. The business models are the same and the content is on the same downward trajectory it was on when cable was king. You just can't start with shit content and ad overload if you're new to the game. Consumers still need to buy the bundles to get the shows. Nothing changed.

  • Just younger millennials? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Your.Master ( 1088569 ) on Saturday June 10, 2017 @05:40AM (#54590699)

    I'm an older millennial I guess, at almost 33 years old, and I never knew until they were Netflix exclusive (or, rarely, hulu exclusive or amazon exclusive). I knew what channel they were on, meaning what numbers to press into the remote control. Why anyone would expect me to know what network was on what channel, I don't know.

    With netflix it was relevant because I have to specifically go there, instead of to an arbitrary number.

    My parents are in their early 60s, I doubt they knew the name of any network except *sigh* the weather network.

    • As someone the same age, I must agree. I've never even thought of the networks as "brands"; they're just containers with an arbitrary number attached. If you asked me to differentiate beyond that, I truly could not.
    • TV channels in the U.S. are required to identify themselves in their broadcasts at least once an hour [wikipedia.org]. Many do it more frequently, both to build up branding and so they won't get in trouble with the FCC if they miss an ID broadcast. You have to have seen these [youtube.com] if you watch any cable or over-the-air TV broadcasts.

      • They aren't required to identify their network, however. They generally do for branding reasons, but the legal requirement only covers call sign, channel, and location. (In the modern world of digital TV that means the PSIP channel, not the one they actually broadcast on which is different for most stations.) It can be done either audibly or visually, though most stations do both. Exception: if the station is doing a long broadcast like a live concert or a soccer game that has no natural breaks at the right

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Brama ( 80257 )

      As someone who grew up in Europe, even remembering the channel number is alien to me. All our tv's used to have presets, and you'd order your favorite channels in order of preference, so you'd mostly use preference up/down buttons. Only after moving to the US I realized that this was not a standard thing.

      It makes sense now though, as we had at most 15 channels if you were lucky, and the older tv's would have up to 12 analog channel selectors for each preference. Going beyond that number would have been craz

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Brama ( 80257 )

        For some context, the image below shows how you had to configure each preset on the old tv's (70's). You had a push-out drawer with a bunch of knobs or gears you had to turn for each channel. They'd go up to 12. Imagine the fun of having to reset all the preferences if they changed the channel numbers!

        http://www.marcelstvmuseum.com... [marcelstvmuseum.com]

    • Agreed, just turned 34 and am in the same boat. Actually, for the most part, I don't even know what channel number most of the shows I watch these days are on as it's Tivo's job to know for me. I have had a Tivo since Netflix was dvd only so this certainly isn't caused by streaming video.

      Growing up pre-time shifting (well besides VCRs), I had slightly more awareness. For example I am pretty sure TGIF was on ABC, and I know the Simpsons were on FOX. However like you said, I didn't care as the network was bas

      • I'm an old geezer. I know that some shows are CW, mainly because they aren't on Hulu. 60 Minutes is CBS. I have no idea where anything else is. Usually I don't even know when they air. I just turn on the tube, look for them on my DVR (or Netflix or Hulu) and watch them.

  • This is horrible! (Score:3)

    by Gravis Zero ( 934156 ) on Saturday June 10, 2017 @05:44AM (#54590707)

    You mean now they have to actually make content that people enjoy rather than just coast on the name that made it? How do you expect giant studios to crowd out the little guy if the playing field is level?! ;)

  • Neither do I (Score:5, Informative)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Saturday June 10, 2017 @05:54AM (#54590725)

    Way past Millennial age here (GenXer, IIRC). It might be due to me living in a different country where the networks buy from other networks without taking care that they only buy from Fox, ABC or whoever else there is, but then again, I also don't know what networks bought what series. Why? Because it doesn't matter AT ALL.

    Why is that in any way important knowledge?

    • Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Saturday June 10, 2017 @07:04AM (#54590909)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • OTOH, if you're (for example) British and you don't know that Eastenders is associated with the BBC, you'd be doing the same thing.

        A better example is people not knowing what channel Downton Abbey is (was?) on, because it wasn't on the BBC :p

        • As an American I have made the mistake of assuming a British show was from the BBC.

          If it's a British show on PBS, it must be the BBC. Wrong!

      • I felt like the headline was kinda patronizing Millennials, when all that's happened is the way we watch TV has changed.

        Because clickbait for nerds. Like the women in STEM articles, Apple sucks, Microsoft sucks, WindpowersolarpowerTesla.

      • If you're wondering why it's a network, and "associated with", rather than just called NBC all the time, it has to do with the weird geographical set up of TV in the US, where every TV station is local, so to put out national content, TV stations associated themselves with one of five or six major networks.

        It's not weird. It's because radio signal strength drops off with the square of distance. So each TV station's transmitter antenna can only cover a small geographical area. It's a non-issue for strea

  • Content matters.
    Your branding doesn't.

    Shocking that.
    Just a shame it doesn't apply to everything.

  • content is all that matters (Score:5, Insightful)

    by petes_PoV ( 912422 ) on Saturday June 10, 2017 @06:18AM (#54590791)

    millennials aren't able to identify the networks responsible for some of the most popular television shows,

    Me neither. I have never taken the slightest interest in what channel a programme is on, who made it, who presents or acts in it.

    The only thing I am interested in is whether it is good or not. Why does anything else matter?

  • All of the shows they used in the study were created by networks that broadcast over the air. People in the age range surveyed are probably much more likely to watch shows created by cable and premium channels. How is it that they didn't include any shows from FX, Comedy Central, HBO, Showtime, or AMC? I'm a bit older than the surveyed demographic and I would find it difficult to even name 5 shows that aired on any over-the-air network, let alone match the show to the network. They should perform this s
  • Jessica Jones and the Empire? I didn't even know Roger Rabbit's girlfriend had a thing for Darth Vader.
  • The old network/advertising model is obsolete? In other news: water is wet. Disclaimer: I grew up on network television and even I get it.

  • Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Saturday June 10, 2017 @07:26AM (#54590973)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Saturday June 10, 2017 @07:29AM (#54590975)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Comedy(not of the sitcom variant) and educational programming(without non educational commercials) is the only thing worth viewing. and you can not find that on broadcast television very often.

    • Ditto! I'm within spitting distance of 60, and I have no idea where most of my shows are. I didn't really pay attention to the channel when I added them to my DVR list, and I certainly don't know now. And these days, I watch as much or more on Netflix or Hulu than I do on regular TV anyway.

  • Why should anyone care for that matter what network makes the show? Networks don't matter, they haven't probably mattered for a few years now, and they will become more obscure every day. I get it when there were 3 or 4 channels then it was a big deal, but these networks are trying to act like it's still the 1960's and they still matter, when they really don't. Hell kids these days are content to watch youtube videos of some guy commenting while he's playing video games, how in the world is some network

  • I grew up in the 70's and 80's, watched a lot of TV shows and I'm not sure I could name a single network that any one was tied to.

    Except perhaps The Wonderful World of Disney.

  • Missing the obvious... (Score:3)

    by Junta ( 36770 ) on Saturday June 10, 2017 @08:49AM (#54591285)

    Most of the time you start watching a show that was originated by anything *but* Netflix and you see the show. They generally tuck info about the originating network into the credits and are subtle (except in ads on their own network). Perhaps this is to make selling it for syndication easier, since networks are accustomed to buying things off of each other. Also, due to same syndication, the progeny of a show may become muddled, particularly if a show runs long enough to be both new on original network and in syndication elsewhere. DVR and streaming online obfuscates the origin of the show further.

    You start watching any episode of anything netflix made, you first have to click through the show icon with a gigantic 'netflix original series logo', then the first thing in the show itself is 'A netflix original series'. Netflix beats it repeatedly over the viewers head that this is a netflix original series. Other points made about cord cutting and all that may be real, but in terms of identifying the originating network, it's easy to see how marketing strategy plays in.

  • Folks who don't watch TV much cannot tell you what network originally* hosted a particular series either because, to be honest, no one cares. ( nor does it matter to the consumer )

    *Important distinction as some series will be bought and replayed on different networks over time.

    As much as they try to burn the network logo into your brain by keeping it visible in the corner during any given show, most folks ignore it. ( Or try to. When it becomes too obnoxious, or the commercials too frequent, I just turn t

  • I'm in my 40s, and I quit caring what network had what when I got my first TiVo about 15 years ago.

  • People have been ignoring logos and branding for eons now, why is it suddenly a concern? I don't know what networks TV shows "belong" to and I don't know what production house makes any films I watch either... Logos and crap are automatically tuned out by most people because they're not the main content, lots of people skip credits and theme songs as well.

  • When has knowing that information ever been helpful to me?

  • Um, I can tell which network a show is probably on just by watching it. Knowing the network has nothing to do with knowing what channel number it is on TV. Every network has its own feel to it. Knowing which network something is on has a positive correlation to be knowing ahead of time whether I'll like it. Not knowing what network something is on is akin to being proud of not knowing who the showrunner is or who the actors are. It is possible if you are a very casual viewer, but otherwise...

  • For cord cutters, search engines removed the need to memorize this information because a search for the title is enough to get them to the content.

    T.V. show production companies are getting the same attention that movie production companies have always had. Who cares if it's Tri-Star, Century 21, or Paramount?

  • This is a sign that the traditional broadcast TV model is moving towards extinction. The sooner that happens, the better. We're in an age where on-demand viewing should be the norm, not the exception. The sooner the legacy TV broadcast model dies, the better.

  • Who cares, which network created a show? I am only interested in where i can see it. And usually its sometimes this station sometimes that station.

  • "Younger Millennials Don't Know What Networks Are Responsible For TV Shows"

    So what? Regardless of what generation you're from, who cares about what networks host which shows? Who is this supposed to matter to?

    It's a shame that this is what passes for "news" on Slashdot these days...

  • Amazon does a fair amount of children's programming, but their adult shows mostly seem to be aimed at people older than the millennials. Their best known show, Transparent, is about a 70 year old trans woman and her children, all of whom are significantly past millennial age. So it's not surprising that recognition of Amazon originals is low among millennials; they're not the audience.

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