Forget Millennials and Gen Xers - It's Your Media Generation That Counts

Generations have traditionally been defined in 15-18-year increments, and given names based on some characteristic of the group’s behavior or time period.  While there is some disagreement on exact start and end years, these are generally accepted time frames for the seven living generations:

• The G.I. Generation (1901-1926)
• The Silent Generation (1927-1945)
• Baby Boomers (1946-1964)
• Baby Busters/Generation X (1965-1980)
• Millennials/Generation Y (1981-1995)
• iGeneration/Generation Z (1996-2012)
• Generation Alpha (2013- )

 

People in the same generation typically have similar collective experiences, and as they age, demonstrate similarities in attitudes and how they relate to the world around them – and until about 10 years ago, how they related to media as well.

 

In pre-Millennial generations, most people obtained access to the same media distribution system, same channels, same programs, and same media devices.  And when they watched specific television programs, they did so at the same time (if they were in the same time zone).  This was true both within and across generations.

 

While there were always early adopters of new technology, people within the same generation tended to eventually get and use the same stuff.  Just as significant, people in previous generations tended to eventually get them as well.  If you got cable or satellite (which 90% of U.S. TV households eventually did), you received about the same number of channels as everyone else.  If you purchased a VCR (which 90% of U.S. TV households eventually did) or a DVD player (which 80% of households did), you had roughly the same access to time-shifted viewing and renting/buying movies or TV shows as most other people.  This not only made media measurement easier, but it made predicting future media usage easier as well.  If you know that 80-90% of consumers will eventually get something, estimating its eventual impact is reasonably straightforward.

 

The Evolving Media Landscape:  From Gradual to Constant Change

Over the past 20 years, the media landscape has been in a constant state of change.  How people use and relate to media, video, and individual television programs is largely dependent on the ever-expanding array of media devices and subscription video platforms they can access – which is no longer the same across generations or among members of the same generation.

 

Until the early 2000s, the pace of change was relatively slow, enabling cumbersome media measurement conglomerates to trudge along with serviceable audience measurement.  As cohesive groups of people aged, their media habits were largely predictable.

 

It’s hard to imagine now, but before people meters debuted in 1987, the national Nielsen television sample was only 1,200 homes, and demographic data was only available 36 weeks of the year.  In a three-network, one-screen, single platform, 15-channel, live-viewing world, this was acceptable.

 

Here’s a brief look at how the video media landscape has evolved since then:

 

• During the late 1980s, VCRs started to become prevalent, eventually being owned by 90% of U.S. TV households. Watching pre-recorded videocassettes became the first major new use of the television set.  This contributed to the broadcast networks giving up on original scripted series on Saturday nights (which was now the biggest movie rental night).  They subsequently cut back on airing made-for-tv and theatrical movies as well.  Time-shifted viewing, now possible for the first time, was relatively minor (about 5% of primetime viewing).

 

• The home VCR became the fastest growing electronic device since television itself, and caused real problems for audience measurement. It marked the first time Nielsen had to admit it couldn’t measure an element of television viewing.  It was able to capture VCR recording, but playback among individual people remained beyond its scope.

 

• In 1990, the average home could still only receive 33 channels. Viewing habits remained relatively stable, and aside from VCR usage, there weren’t many major challenges to audience measurement.  As cable television expanded, however, the number of available channels began to rise sharply.

 

• In the late 1990s, DVRs became a reality, but growth was considerably slower than VCRs. It would take another decade before they were even in 20 percent of the country, and needed to be addressed in developing television samples for audience measurement.

 

• Prior to 2005, changes to the media landscape – what was available to view and how it could be viewed – were gradual. Most people wound up getting the same access to almost everything.  The slow pace of change made predicting consumer television viewing habits relatively simple, and slow-to-change research companies didn’t have to pivot too quickly, nor innovate too often.

 

• Since then, change has been rapid and constant – from the introduction of Apple’s first video iPod in 2005, to social media led by Facebook and Twitter in 2006, to the first iPhone in 2007, to Netflix and Hulu in 2008/2009, to the first iPad in 2010, Netflix’s first original scripted hit (House of Cards) in 2013 (there are now as many original scripted series on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video as all the broadcast networks combined), other subscription video on demand services such as CBS All Access in 2015 and the upcoming Disney Plus and Warner Media streaming services, among others. Today, the average home can receive more than 200 channels.

 

• Unlike pre-2000, however, everybody isn’t necessarily getting everything anymore. Slightly more than half of TV households have DVRs (despite being available for more than 20 years).  It may never reach more than two-thirds of the country.  More than 60% of TV households have subscription video on demand (SVOD), up from 45% three years ago.  This could hit 70% in a couple of years.  Nearly 40 percent of TV homes have multimedia devices or smart TVs, both up from about 20% three years ago.  Neither will hit 50% for at least a few more years.

 

Re-defining Generations:  Less Cohesion, Narrower Time Frames

When it comes to media usage, broad age groups that make up traditional generations, are no longer as cohesive as they once were.  There is less similarity among members of more recent generations based on what, where, and when they can watch video content.  Just as significant, previous generations are not as likely to eventually use the newest media or technology.

 

Previously cohesive generations are starting to splinter into sub-groups based on media usage dynamics that are significantly more segmented than just a few years ago.  We need to start re-thinking commonly accepted generational labels not only based on how they use and relate to media, but also how they are exposed to and respond to advertising.

 

The Media Generations

Getting access to something as an adult is quite different from growing up with it.  The way you use and relate to media and media devices is no exception.  Most Baby Boomers, for example, did not experience substantial change in media or device access until they were adults.  In 1980, when the youngest Boomers were in their 30s, roughly 80 percent of the country did not yet have cable.  In 1985, more than 85 percent of the country did not have a VCR.

 

The way my 19-year-old son uses and relates to the media landscape is much different from how I do.  Rather than growing up in a stable media environment as I did, he has experienced constant change.  He grew up going from flip phones, to blackberries, to smartphones; from VCRs to DVRs to video on demand, to Apple TV to streaming sticks; from desktop pc, to laptop, to iPad, to high-speed internet; from cable to YouTube to Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video.  In other words, he is from the first generation to grow up continually navigating new media and platforms, making it easier to adjust to whatever comes next.  He expects change, not stability.

 

Here is how I would break out the Media Generations (the corresponding standard age-based generations are in parenthesis).  As change becomes more frequent, the number of years making up a media generation narrows.

 

The Pre-TV Generation:  born 1924-1949 (The Silent Generation:  1927-1945)

How they relate to the world around them:

• Taught to “be seen and not heard.”
• Clear ideas of right and wrong, good and evil, black hats and white hats.
• Conformity and following the rules were keys to success.
• Hard work, pay your dues, respect for authority. Tended to stay in same jobs for entire career.
• Pre-feminism, traditional nuclear families – most men worked, most women stayed home to raise kids – main jobs for women outside the home were teachers, nurses, and secretaries.
• People of similar ages tended to be in similar stages of life.
• Avid newspaper readers.
• Big Band and Swing generation. Introduction of Rock ‘N’ Roll.
• Post WWII prosperity – suburbs, growth of cars as status symbols.

Major events that affected how they think:

• First half of generation grew up in aftermath of the Great Depression – determined to “save, save, save” so their kids could be better off than they were.
• War generation – first half of generation were teens and young adults during World War II, young adults during Korean conflict; second half of generation were young adults during Vietnam War.
• Teens and young adults during McCarthy Era, start of Cold War, Cuban missile crisis.

How they relate to media:

• Grew up with radio. Introduction to television.
• One TV per household. Few channels, few choices, no remote control, no end-user technology.
• Families gathered around the console TV set (as they had around the radio).
• Portable small-screen TV was new technology.
• First stop still broadcast networks or cable networks that air off-network series.
• They see advertising on television as normal and necessary.

 

U.S. penetration:  Television – 9% in 1950, 50% in 1954, 90% in 1960.  In 1964 only 3% of homes had color TV, which wouldn’t pass 50% of the U.S. until 1972.

 

In 2019, the Pre-TV Generation is 70+.

 

The TV Generation:  born 1950-1969 (Baby Boomers: 1946-1964)

How they relate to the world around them:

• Started the American Youth culture – first generation to have advertisers, media, and entertainment industry market specifically to kids, teens, and twenty-somethings on a widespread basis. They are used to being the center of attention.
• Confident they will be better off financially than their parents.
• Many are first generation in their families to graduate from college.
• Believe they can change the world for the better.
• Many in this generation fight for women’s and civil rights in the 1970s and become yuppies in the 1980s.
• Musical variety – Rock ‘N’ Roll, Motown, Country, Disco, Heavy Metal, Punk Rock, Hip-Hop.
• From free love, the pill, and sexual revolution in their teens and early 20s to AIDS and safe sex in their late 20s, 30s, and 40s.
• In teens and 20s see the introduction of MTV and music videos – for the first time, people can regularly see their favorite music groups without going to concerts.
• First generation to see retirement as a new beginning rather than nearing the end.

 

Major events that affected how they think:

• Assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert Kennedy.
• Beginning and end of Vietnam War and the draft.
• Civil Rights and Women’s Rights movements.
• Watergate, Nixon becomes first President to resign.
• Young adults when AIDS epidemic struck.
• Young adults when Cold War ended and Berlin Wall fell.

How they relate to media:

• Global Village – first generation to have electronic access to events in opposite ends of the country live as they were happening.
• Grew up with one screen, few choices,
• Programmer control. Could only watch something when a TV station aired it – kids looked forward to annual showings of The Wizard of Oz.
• Families still watched TV together – in early 1970s, All in the Family was the highest rated show on the air among every age group for five straight years.
• In 1986, Fox became the fourth broadcast network.
• Remote Control was new technology.
• Teens and young adults during early years of HBO, MTV, and ad-supported cable.
• They see advertising as a necessary for “free TV.” Fondly remember the classic commercials of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.

 

Ten years ago, in its landmark Video Consumer Mapping Study (which I helped spearhead), the Council for Research Excellence dubbed 45-54-year-olds “Digital Boomers.”  Born between 1955 and 1964 (the second half of the Baby Boom generation), these consumers were basically a bridge between younger and older generations, sharing media habits with both.  This was really the first group to grow up with traditional television.  These folks are now 55-64, the bulk of the TV Generation, and bear little resemblance to their parents at the same age.

 

U.S. penetration:  Television – 50% in 1954, 90% in 1960.  Cable – 12% in 1975, 20% in 1980, 43% in 1985.  In 1970, about two-thirds of homes only had one TV set.

 

In 2019, the TV Generation is 50-69.

 

The Multi-Channel Generation:  born 1970-1989 (Gen. X: 1965-1980; Millennials: 1981-1995)

How they relate to the world around them:

• Rise of dual-income families, “latch-key kids.”
• Growth of divorce rates and single-parent households.
• Went from computer-free to computer savvy.
• Rather than fleeing the nest, many of their kids are coming back home after college.
• Sandwich generation – often responsible for simultaneously raising children and caring for aging parents.
• Went from seeing terrorism from afar and relative safety, to seeing it up close and personal.

 

Major events that affected how they think:

• Safe sex generation – kids and teens during AIDS epidemic.
• Kids or teens when Berlin Wall fell.
• Teens or young adults on 9/11.
• First half of generation were teens on Black Monday. Young adults during Great Recession.

 

How they relate to media:

• First generation to grow up with remote control and cable.
• First generation to grow up with more than three broadcast networks.
• First generation to grow up with MTV and music videos.
• Second half of generation was first group to have extensive kids’ TV programming beyond Saturday Morning – Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.
• Program rather than network oriented.
• Dial-up internet was new technology. Time shifted TV viewing was a new concept.
• They see TV advertising as a necessary evil.

 

U.S. penetration:  Cable – 56% in 1990, 68% in 2000, 85% in 2005.  VCRs – 14% 1985, 66% in 1990, 90% in 2000.

 

In 2019, the Multi-Channel Generation is 30-49.

 

In 1990, 65% of TV homes had more than on television set.  This is the last cohesive generation, where almost everyone got almost everything.  The VCR was the last universally purchased device for watching video.

 

The Multi-Platform Generation:  born 1990-2004 (Generation Z: 1996-2012)

How they relate to the world around them:

• Grew up during and post-9/11, during the war on terrorism, and the Great Recession.
• Many kids and teens see their parents get laid off.
• Schools start having “active shooter” drills.
• The above three points contribute to making them feel less secure than the previous two generations (first generation to need picture IDs in office buildings and airports).
• First generation to think they might not be financially better off than their parents.
• Politically correct generation – first generation where large segment favors restricting offensive speech.
• Fathers much more involved in child rearing than previous generations.
• First generation to grow up with search engines and high-speed internet access.
• Early-age use of computers, apps, and web-based learning results in leaving behind traditional toys at an earlier age than previous generations. This also enables them to process information faster than previous generations.
• Social media and texting are major forms of communicating and socializing.
• Multi-tasking is their normal state.
• More individualist and technology dependent than previous generations.

 

Major events that affected how they think:

• 9/11 and other terrorist attacks on U.S. soil
• Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• LBGTQ rights and marriage equality.
• Mass shootings.
• Teens and young adults during rise of #MeToo movement when major male celebrities and power brokers have careers derailed by sexual assault allegations.
• Donald Trump elected President before most of them can vote.

 

How they relate to media:

• Grew up with high-speed internet, DVRs, on-demand, video streaming, HDTV, smartphones, social media, multi-media devices.
• Peak TV – original scripted series no longer exclusive to broadcast TV. In addition to ad-supported cable networks led by AMC, FX, TNT, and USA, premium cable networks, such as HBO, Showtime, and Starz, as well as video streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and CBS All Access, air extensive original content year-round.
• DVRs and multi-media devices were new technology.
• They see TV advertising as intrusive and annoying. They are used to fast-forwarding through commercials via DVR or streaming commercial-free TV.

 

U.S. penetration:  DVRs – 20% in 2008, 34% in 2010, 50% in 2015.  SVOD – 41% in 2014, 48% in 2015.  Internet at Home – 18% in 1997, 50% in 2001, 75% in 2010.  Broadband – 33% in 2005, 67% in 2015.  Smartphones – 36% in 2011, 76% in 2015.  Facebook – 49% of U.S. population used at least once a month in 2015 (24% used Instagram, 16% used Twitter).

 

In 2019, the Multi-Platform Generation is 15-29.

 

The Mobile Generation:  born 2005- (Generation Alpha: 2013-)

• Growing up watching what they want, when they want, where they want.
• TV/video is everywhere – this generation makes little distinction between broadcast, cable, YouTube, or SVOD. Content means everything, distribution source or screen means little.

 

Predicting what will affect this generation most, and how they will relate to the world or media, is not really possible right now.  Anytime you try to predict what will happen 5 or 10 years down the road, you are constricted by current technology and historical perspective.  New technology and innovation, as well as consumer trends and attitudes, are perpetually around the corner.  When they appear, they fundamentally change current thinking, making predictions of yesterday obsolete.  The virtually continuous change to the video environment we’ve seen over the past 20 years may finally be slowing, which could extend the time frame of this generation.   

 

In 2019, the Mobile Generation is 14 and younger.

 

Less Cohesion Within and Across Generations: Impact and Implications

The last two generations (Multi-Platform and Mobile) are the first to gain access to new technology that will not be fully embraced by previous generations (as already mentioned, the VCR was the last universally utilized video usage device).  They are also the first generations to have substantially different media access and usage patterns among cohorts within their own generation.  This will undoubtedly be true of subsequent generations as well.

 

As more and more subscription video streaming services and media devices become available, disposable income, is going to be among the greatest indicators of media access and usage.

 

Slightly more than half of TV homes have DVRs.  Television is a fundamentally different medium for DVR owners than for those without, even if both groups are watching live TV (because of the pause and fast-forward features).  The half of the population with DVRs have substantially different television viewing habits and exposure to commercials than the half who do not have DVRs.  The same is true for those with and without SVOD (as well as those who subscribe just to Netflix, compared to those who get Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and CBS All Access, or any combination).

 

There are a number of important questions worth researching here:

 

• What portion of the non-DVR homes are also non-SVOD?
• Does on-demand (subscription or not) serve as a DVR for those without one, or is the idea of delayed viewing irrelevant to most of them?
• A third of the country may never get an SVOD service or multi-media device. What combination of age, income, education, family size, presence of kids, race, etc. is the driving force for subscribers?
• How many sub-media-usage groups are there within each generation?
• Are current sampling methodologies used by television/video measurement research companies still capable of projecting to the total U.S., or are formerly similar demographic cohorts now so different that the whole concept of how to put together a sample and whether any single source can measure the totality of video viewing, need to be re-evaluated?

 

After more than 30 years of relative stability, the video media world is in a state of constant flux.  Broad age groupings such as Adults 18-49 and 25-54 are no longer meaningful.  Adults 18-49 with DVRs and SVOD, for example, are substantially different from Adults 18-49 with neither (or either).  Adults 25-54 who subscribe to three of four SVOD services are substantially different from Adults 25-54 who subscribe to just one.  Previous standard generations (such as Baby Boomers and Generation X) are not as cohesive in terms of media availability and usage as they once were.  Subsequent generations are even less cohesive.  It is more important than ever to reassess how groups of consumers are evaluated, based on media dynamics.