Boomers are Increasingly Active, Involved

Content Insider #910 – Viewers

By Andy Marken – andy@markencom.com

“You need to call it. I can’t call it for you. It wouldn’t be fair.” Anton Chigurh, “No Place for Old Men,” Paramount, 2007

We wouldn’t call it an epiphany or WTF is going on, but we’ve come to realize something all of our heros; heck, all of our friends/acquaintances, are … old!

O.K., not old-old, but old.

We began to realize that ugly fact when we checked out the list of movies people flocked to or signed up with streaming services just to watch the show this year:

• Top Gun: Maverick – 27 years after first Top Gun and the hero is 50 years old
• Fast X – 22 years since the first testosterone racers hit the streets of LA with a muscle car leader (Vin Diesel) who’s 55
• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny – 42 years after the first snake phobia archaeologist (Harrison Ford – 70) hit the screen 
• John Wick 4 – Our hero is played by a 53-year old, the bowery king (Laurence Fishburne) is 61
• The Equalizer 3 – Our intrepid make-things-right-guy (Denzel Washington) is 68
• Everything Everywhere All at Once and Halloween heroine is 64
• An attractive/active Helen Mirren who has been in a bunch of our favorite films is 77
• Martin Scorsese who directed Robert DeNiro (79) in the fantastic Killers of the Flower Moon is 80

Of course, the jumping off point to this was when 81-year-old Martha Stewart took to the cover of Sports Illustrated while 75-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger was on the cover of Hollywood Reporter proclaiming he was going to live forever.

George Burns had already tried that line saying, “I don’t believe in dying. It’s been done. I’m working on a new exit. Besides, I can’t die now – I’m booked.”

He successfully aged until he was 100.

Balance – Boomers increasingly live longer and often work longer than earlier generations.

Being a Boomer (1946-1964) – and beyond – can’t be that bad because there are so d**n many.

Still, it’s interesting that with all of the complaints about the various biases that fly around the movie/show industry (and country in general), you don’t dare comment on someone’s race, gender or sexual preferences; but categorizing them by age (too old to learn this or do this) is O.K.

We enjoy it when our kids (Gen Z digital natives) think the internet, smartphone, Apple Watch, apps, watching short and long video entertainment on whatever screen they have, whenever/wherever they are/ is normal. 

Big deal!

We know the people – personally or by reputation – who agonized over and developed that stuff.

We dimly recall hulky color TVs with home entertainment coming from a few network channels we sorta, kinda watched bloat up to a gazillion channels we never watched.

But at least we knew which channel, day, time the shows were on.

However, we really liked the freedom and choice that streamers and studios offered over the past few years.  

The opportunity to watch a movie or series at our convenience rather than when the cable guy and network deemed it was time for us to watch when they wanted and on the screen they wanted gave us … freedom.

Cord Cutting – People around the world are cutting the cord for a bunch of streaming service entertainment options.  The challenge is in figuring out which one has the content they want to watch.  

People immediately began cutting the cord as quickly as possible – it wasn’t easy – to get rid of the $100 +/- home entertainment bill.

The move marked what John Landgraf, chairman of FX, has deemed the end of Peak TV.

Flourishing – Streaming video services have grown significantly in recent years as people find they prefer to watch what they want, when they want and on the screen they want.  

In no time, the upstart Netflix was joined in the heated race for subscribers by Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney + and WBD’s HBO which begot HBO Max which begot Max, Apple TV+, Paramount +, Peacock and hundreds of other content rich services.

That solved next to nothing.

No one wanted to settle for the movies/shows on one or two services so they signed up for more and more services until the home entertainment bill again became a touchy subject around the house.

The streamers had an answer … they added ads and let you subscribe to their less-expensive service.

That eased the financial issue.

But everyone in the family – boomer, gen X, millennial, Gen Z – had an insurmountable challenge … finding something they want to watch.

Dig Around – Streaming services have yet to figure out that people really dislike having to search through their libraries just to find some content to enjoy.  After 10-15 minutes of searching, they usually just … settle.  

We still dig around each of the entertainment silos – 8-10 minutes a day, 4-5 hours a month, according to Nielsen – climbing from one silo to the other to find something we want to watch.

Or, we simply settle.

As digitally savvy as our kids are, they still haven’t figured out how to solve the problem other than to jump into the big FAST silos – Tubi, Pluto, etc. – and discover new/old stuff they never knew existed.

The few ads are no big deal. 

They grew up not paying any attention to them.

But it’s more relaxing when you have a head start in looking for your entertainment.  

    A Little Help – Most people have a rough idea of what they’re going to watch on their screen based on something they read or were told; but dumb luck also plays a major role in people’s entertainment.

Having a head start means dumb luck, you saw a promo for a particular show/movie or better yet, someone in the office told you it was fantastic entertainment.  

It doesn’t matter how you find out about the video story, it’s a great way to start the evening.

Addictive Hook – People may sit down to enjoy a movie or show but their smartphone is seldom out of their reach.  The device has become your connection with the world around you.

Of course, sneaking a look to check our email and messages does irritate our significant other; but heck, someone might want something.

It’s a lot easier and less conspicuous to glance at the phone screen rather than open up the laptop to see what’s been going on since the last time we were online.

   Digital Immigrants – Boomers had to migrate into using today’s communications technology and they don’t skimp on the quality or price of their devices/screens.  

According to AARP’s 50-Plus study, Boomers aren’t much different from Millenials or GenZers when it comes to using technology.

We need it to stay connected and the smartphone has become indispensable for texting (92 percent of boomers), video chat/calls (70 percent) and email (90 percent).

People, regardless of their age, increasingly reach for their devices to stay connected with others, manage their workload and household and increasingly, to order products/services.  

Sure, in a meeting we try to take written notes; but like most things you do, if you don’t do it consistently, it fades away

If we don’t immediately move the notes to the computer, let’s just say even the world’s best spy would have a helluva time deciphering it.  

It may be a little limiting; but as far as we’re concerned, the computer is a productivity tool and that’s how it is used.

Period.

But whether you’re young or old (we mean really, really old) we can’t imagine anyone without a smartphone.

It’s more versatile than the Swiss army knife we had as a kid.

More than Phone – Digital natives and immigrants rely heavily on their smartphones to help them stay in touch with the world around them.

According to the AARP study, 50-plusers use it to stay connected with friends/family/associates; research/buy stuff; manage finances/healthcare/fitness/home smart technology; order food, groceries, a ride.

Even Boomers have found they are good substitutes when a big screen isn’t available for game/movie/show entertainment.

Really Enjoy – Smartphone producers like to tell you that people are increasingly using their devices for their video entertainment and it’s true in APAC countries where larger screen devices are expensive and their budgets are limited.  But increasingly, screen size is shifting around the globe.  

Every age group is responding to a steady stream of ever-changing technology, especially adults who are 50-plus.

The Age Tech Collaborative noted last year those individuals in the US spent nearly $1000 on technology and by 2030, they’re expected to spend more than $120B for entertainment, work, communications technology.  

Directly or indirectly, this year’s Cannes Film Festival highlighted the fact that being over 50 should be celebrated, not retired to the back room because these experienced individuals still have a lot to contribute to the industry and the world.

Population Shift – Birth rates have declined around the globe while people are living longer, which impacts the world’s economy and available workforce.

More importantly, while the Gen Z, Millenial and Gen X global population is shrinking, the active boomer population is continuing to increase.

Despite this, USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative study found that of the 100 top-grossing films last year, only 10 featured women 45 years of age or older and 35 of the movies depicted a man in the same age bracket.

When the strikes are settled and teams return to their various film/TV projects, studios and streamers will need the expertise and experience these writers, directors, producers and craftspeople have perfected over the years.

Like the rest of the creative content team, they work hard to stay at the leading edge of today’s technology and develop, produce, deliver the best content possible for viewers across the spectrum and around the globe.

They understand what Ellis meant when he said in No Place for Old Men, “What you got ain’t nothin’ new. This country’s hard on people. You can’t stop what’s coming. It ain’t all waiting on you. That’s vanity.”

From experience, they know vanity only gets you so far and then it doesn’t.

Besides, along with all that experience, they’ve learned/developed a lot of tricks of the trade … and they have probably learned some secrets folks would just as soon stay buried.

Andy Marken – andy@markencom.com – is an author of more than 800 articles on management, marketing, communications, industry trends in media & entertainment, consumer electronics, software and applications. Marken is an internationally recognized marketing/communications consultant with a broad range of technical and industry expertise especially in storage, storage management and film/video production fields. He also has an extended range of relationships with business, industry trade press, online media and industry analysts/consultants.