Can your kids name the Big 4?
A new study came out stating that only one in four teens can list by name the Big 4 broadcast networks. What does it all mean? I’m not totally sure, but I think I have an idea. Please share your idea, let me know what you think.
I’m not totally shocked by this. Yeah, I’m old enough to say, when I was a kid ALL we had was the Big 4. It would have really aged me if I said the Big 3. But no we had 4 and at that time cable was also coming into play. We never had cable, well cable the way we think of it today, and the majority of my friends didn’t either, it was still a new fangled thing that parents didn’t really trust. What we had was the basic cable that allowed us to have the PBS channel from Seattle, and Idaho. I do remember when certain cable channels had their special free weekends and you could watch the Disney Channel, MTV, or the Family Channel for free from Friday night to Sunday night. They would air movies like the Lost Garden and the classic movies such as Bambi and Dumbo. One year, there was this huge special, the local MSO was practically giving it a way, so we had it, I was in heaven. But as soon as the rates went up, the cable moved out. Still there was only 15 maybe 20 channels.
The other week, my sister was telling me about how her family (Hubby and 4 kids) just love their PVR (Personal Video Recorder, also known as a DVR or TiVo). The only issue was, even though it can record up to 100 hours of programming, it wasn’t enough for 6 people who have 120+ channels to choose from. The Big 4 suddenly don’t seem so…well, big.
Another angle we could approach this, is looking at the the network’s target demographics. With the misconception that childrens programming is not profitable none of the big 4 make an effort to reach these kids with programming. So why should teens know them, or even care for them when the Big 4 obviously doesn’t care for them.
Yeah kids spend a lot of time online, because there is a lot online to entertain them. One way to draw attention to the kids would be to target them for one, and secondly invest in some viral marketing to get their attention and hopefully move it back to the not so Big 4.
Just my thoughts! Oh by the way, sorry I haven’t been posting a lot lately. I haven’t gotten tired of this yet, it’s just I have one week left of school (Thank You God) and well they’re keepin’ me busy. Trust me, after graduation, I’m going to have so much time on my hands, you’re gonna wish I had another hobby. Until then, wish me luck!
on June 1st, 2006 at 4:26 am
your right! they dont watch the Big 3! (yes I know I do come from that era!) for the same reason I dont watch their big three! MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon it’s all about nich marketing! radio has gone the same way and in many ways was the pioneer for cable! as format started to blossom so to the video heads figured they could do the same thing!