Laura Lee+BREAKING DOWN A TV AUDIENCE

Men 16-34Men ABC1

Men C2DEMen 55+

Women 16-34Women ABC1

Women C2DEWomen 55+

Housewives with childrenChildren

Boys & TVGirls & TV

BREAKDOWN OF AUDIENCE

Young men are tradit ional ly seen as the more diffi cult audience to reach through TV, and although they don't spend as much t ime watching television as women of the same age, i t undoubtedly plays a signifi cant role in their l ives.

Young men remain one of the l ightest viewing audiences of TV, and also one of the most profi table. Viewing is centred around their interests and dai ly schedules and as a result , weeknight viewing is high, part icularly during late peak. This group are more l ikely to watch post-pub than any other, where comedies and general entertainment feature highly, suit ing the mood perfect ly. Sharing of the remote is also less l ikely (as many young women wil l no doubt test i fy) especial ly at weekend where sports dominate the schedule.

Predictably, sports are one of the main drivers of viewing against this audience. The Sky platform is popular. 80 per cent have access to digital and around 12 per cent subscribe to Sky+ - wel l above the al l -adults average. Sky Sports, Sky Sports News, Channel 4 and Dave rate amongst the preferred channels, reveal ing their propensity for sports, (Footbal l , Formula 1) comedy, (8 Out of 10 Cats, The Big Bang Theory) and factual (The News).

MEN 16-34

There are 12.6 mill ion ABC1 men in Britain, accounting for just under a quarter of all adults. Unsurprisingly, men in this group consume vast quantities of media.

Although this audience is generally time-poor, TV sti l l forms a staple part of their week. Weekend viewing is signifi cantly higher, with 32 per cent of it occurring on Saturdays and Sundays (indicative of their love of sport) and predictably weekday viewing is focused around peak. In addition to sport, men tend to tune into documentaries and news during the week, although water-cooler also draw them in.

Upmarket men love the idea of being able to access a barrage of channels and as a result, are very receptive to digital TV. Conversely, however, they are inclined to believe that a growth in TV stations is diluting the quality of TV. However, they continue to take full advantage of its services, interacting with both programmes and ads alike and paying for content such as a sports and fi lms. As sport provides the crux of their viewing, Sky is the most accessed platform and favourite channels include Sky Sports, Sky Sports News and ITV4.

MEN ABC1

This is an exceptional ly large and therefore diverse demographic group that includes over e leven mi l l ion men in the UK. Unl ike C2DE women, men in th is bracket are more l ike ly to be foot loose and fancy free or to cont inue working after the birth of their chi ldren. As a result , their media habits general ly remain more constant, i rrespect ive of age.

TV forms an integral part of their l ives. Al though their TV consumption is general ly more content- led (they are less l ike ly to channel hop for the sake of i t than women) over hal f of them are classed as medium to heavy viewers. In fact, they watch more TV during the week than on the weekend al though this is st i l l h igher than the adult average.

Although sport forms a s izable chunk of their TV viewing and their weekends are dominated by sport ing events (part icular ly footbal l , rugby and F1), they also watch a good range of other genres, including Fi lms, general entertainment, real i ty and comedy. ITV, fi ve, Discovery and Sky One rank amongst the favouri te channels, in addit ion to the special ist sports stat ions such as Eurosport and Sky Sports. Their programming tastes are var ied. Perhaps surpris ingly, a quarter of th is group regular ly watch Coronation Street, whi lst the documentaries on fi ve and event programming such as Big Brother, I 'm a Celebri ty, Lost and Desperate Housewives also have s ignifi cant appeal .

MEN C2DE

In an age where we're al l l iv ing longer, 60 is no longer the milestone that i t used to be and the diff erences in att itude between the older and younger generations are becoming increasingly less distinct. Once undesirable, this group is gaining prominence amongst marketers as it continues to expand in size and profi tabi l i ty. There are now over 8.2 mil l ion men over the age of 55 in the UK.

Although we are working later in l i fe than ever before, the majority of men over the age of 55 are retired and therefore have signifi cantly more free t ime than they did when they were younger. They have longer to spend on the things that they enjoy and this is refl ected in their media consumption.

Their programme tastes are varied, although they do consume a high proportion of news content. Although reluctant to admit i t , they appreciate entertainment programming (particular ly Coronation Street and Parkinson) and these programmes often form the basis of shared viewing with their family and fr iends. Game shows ( including Countdown and Mil l ionaire), special interest programmes such as Gardener's World, documentaries and sport provide the bulk of their viewing schedules.

MEN 55+

By defi ni t ion, young women have an incredib ly broad set o f media tastes and preferences. More than any other group, th is is not just a matter o f ind iv idual inc l inat ion but a lso l i fe -stage - a young fi rst - t ime mum wi l l undoubtedly have a d iff erent set o f ob ject ives to a career focused woman or a student w i th fewer fami ly t ies . However , regard less of whether a woman spends the morning watch ing CBeebies wi th her toddler , the chances are she' l l spend the evening us ing the TV as va luable 'me-t ime' in just the same way as a woman who's spent her week in an offi ce.

Young women are b ig consumers of media on the whole, engaging with a var iety o f p lat forms on a da i ly bas is . Compared to men of the same age group, young women genera l ly consume more TV, w i th near ly ha l f fa l l ing into the medium to heavy v iewer categor ies . Predictably , for those wi th ch i ldren, dayt ime v iewing is an integra l part o f thei r day, w i th s ign ifi cant peaks dur ing school hours . Late peak a lso prov ides a pr ime v iewing opportuni ty w i th th is group and just as important ly , conversat iona l currency. Shows such as Desperate Housewives form integra l foundat ions o f v iewing and as a barrage of research demonstrates, young women ut i l i se TV content w i th in conversat ion to a stagger ing degree, part icu lar ly rea l i ty shows such as Peter Andre: My L i fe and some h igh impact dramas.

Young women are less l ike ly to have Sky and more inc l ined to have Freeview than men of the same age. To some degree, th is d ispar i ty is fue l led by sports access. Only 12 per cent o f women c la im to have pa id to access a sport ing event - ha l f the amount o f men. Instead, women genera l ly favour more soc ia l ly led-content , such as soaps, drama, rea l i ty and enterta inment and as such are h igh consumers o f channels such as Channel 4 , E4, ITV 2, L iv ing and MTV.

WOMEN 16-34

Unl ike younger women, upmarket women have a h igher tendency to have ch i ld ren in the househo ld and are more l i ke ly to be separated or d ivorced than the i r ma le counterpar ts . Age undoubted ly proves a factor in th i s as a la rge propor t ion o f ABC1 women are over the age o f th i r ty therefore have more set t led home- l ives than they d id in the i r twent ies . As a resu l t o f the i r fami ly s ta tus , the major i ty o f ABC1 women jugg le par t - t ime work w i th parenthood and many s tay a t home to care fo r the i r ch i ld ren . ABC1 women are much less l i ke ly to work fu l l t ime than younger women - aga in th i s i s a refl ect ion o f the i r demanding fami ly l i ves .

Upmarket women account fo r jus t under 30 per cent o f a l l adu l ts and are more l i ke ly to l i ve in the south o f Eng land (espec ia l ly London) .

Women in th i s bracket va lue TV , a l though they don ' t re ly on i t o r regard i t as a past ime. Th is a t t i tude i s la rge ly refl ected in the i r tas tes and hab i ts . They are much more inc l ined to watch dur ing la te peak when the k ids have gone to bed . Th is i s fa i r ly s tab le throughout the week. In teres t ing ly , th i s demograph ic are more suscept ib le to t ime-sh i f ted v iew ing than the i r ma le counterpar ts . Aga in , the i r demanding schedu les are l i ke ly to d ic tate what they watch and when.

In sp i te o f be ing pre-d isposed towards terres t r ia l , d ig i ta l channe ls rank amongst the i r favour i tes . E4 , UKTV Sty le and L iv ing ra te a longs ide Channel 4 , I TV and the BBC in terms o f pre ference. Programming tas tes vary w i th documentar ies lead ing the way inc lud ing Supers i ze vs Supersk inny w i th event dramas such as Desperate Housewives a lso fo rm the s tap les o f the i r v iew ing . I t i s in teres t ing to note that ch i ld ren 's channe ls don ' t ra te as h igh ly amongst th i s aud ience as fo r Women 16-34. Aga in , th i s refl ects the tendency o f upmarket women to have o lder ch i ld ren whose tas tes are deve lop ing beyond the rea lms o f jus t k ids ' TV.

WOMEN ABC1

With over 11.5 mi l l ion C2DE women current ly l iv ing in the UK, th is i s one of the largest demographic aud iences . I t encompasses women f rom across the age spectrum, f rom young mums to ret i rees . For th is reason, the range of tastes and preferences wi th in th is group are broad.

Due to the d iff erent iat ion between the ind iv iduals that fa l l into th is bracket , media s lots into the i r l ives in a host of d iff erent ways . TV prov ides a common thread, however and is a s tap le part o f the i r media d iets - indeed a lmost 20 per cent are se l f-confessed TV add icts ! As a resul t , over ha l f o f a l l C2DE women l ike the idea of having lots of TV channels and apprec iate the choice that d ig i ta l v iewing off ers them.

ITV and Five rank amongst the i r favour i te channels , a l though d ig i ta l channels such as ITV2, E4 and L iv ing TV a lso do wel l . Chi ldren’s channels such as N icke lodeon and Cartoon Network are a lso watched regular ly refl ect ing the h igh amount of shared v iewing between mums and chi ldren. Unsurpr is ing ly , soaps and dramas (such as Hol lyoaks) per form wel l against th is aud ience. The X-Factor , I 'm a Ce lebr i ty and Loose Women are a l l part o f the s tap le v iewing of th is aud ience.

This group are act ive ‘ interactors ’ ! Near ly a quarter regular ly interact wi th the i r TVs for reasons rang ing f rom programme content to check ing the weather. They are a lso inc l ined to th ink interact iv i ty i s a good idea. However , they are less dr iven by interact ive advert i s ing than the i r male counterparts and for th is reason, interact ive ads need to have a s t rong appeal in order to encourage them to work wi th the advert isement .

WOMEN C2DE

As the populat ion l ives longer , people 's a t t i tudes are stay ing younger. Whereas 55 may have been cons idered o ld a few decades ago, th is i s no longer the case. Wi th near ly over 9 mi l l ion women over the age of 55 l iv ing in the UK today, th is la rge demographic i s set to cont inue expanding and i s l i ke ly to become ever more appeal ing to advert i sers as a resu l t .

Genera l ly , women in th is age bracket are more t ime- r ich than they were when they were younger. A l though they st i l l p lace a s ign ifi cant emphasis on the i r fami ly and homes, by the t ime they reach 55 there i s a l i ke l ihood that the i r off spr ing wi l l have fl own the nest a l together. Wi th th is new- found f reedom, mature women use media in very d iff erent ways than the i r younger counterparts - the need to cram v iewing around certa in day parts and in amongst other act iv i t ies i s s ign ifi cant ly lessened.

A th i rd o f th is group re l ies on TV to keep in formed about the wor ld around them and the same amount c i tes TV as the i r favour i te past ime. However , one of the main att i tud ina l d iff erences between th is group and those in the younger age brackets i s that TV can be seen as a gu i l ty p leasure. A l though mature women genera l ly re ly upon i t for in format ion and enterta inment (and as a resu l t are one o f the heav iest v iewing groups) they are some of the most re luctant to admit i t !

ITV (and i ts mul t i - channel extens ions) rank amongst the most watched commerc ia l s tat ions for mature women, GMTV is the i r most popular cho ice in the morn ing. They a lso apprec iate the BBC's output (part icu lar ly the Ant iques Roadshow, the 10 o 'c lock News and Barga in Hunt) , but tend to turn to commerc ia l channels for news and genera l enterta inment . Ha l f o f th i s group watch Coronat ion Street , Midsomer Murders and the ITV news regu lar ly.

WOMEN 55+

There a re cur rent l y ove r 6 .7 mi l l i on housewives w i th k i ds i n the UK . A l though the re i s an obv ious c ross - ove r be tween women 16 -34 and ABC1 women, the re a re a l so some key po in t s o f d iff erent i a t i on .

Fi r s t l y , housewives w i th k i ds a re i nc red ib l y med ia - savvy and exposed to hos t o f d i ff e rent f o rmats and messages pe r day. 36 pe r cent o f th i s aud ience c i t e TV v i ew ing as the i r f avour i te TV pas t i me and as a resu l t , ove r 80 pe r cent have access to d i g i t a l , we l l above the na t i ona l ave rage . Th i s pa r t i a l l y refl ec t the eff ec t o f hav ing ch i l d ren i n the househo l d (d i g i t a l t ake -up i s h i ghe r amongs t young fami l i es ) but i s a l so i nd i ca t i ve o f the i r l ove o f TV as a who le , no t on l y dur i ng f ami l y t i me , but a s va l uab l e 'me t ime ' away f rom the k i ds . Commerc i a l channe l s a re pa r t i cu l a r l y we l l - rece i ved and account f o r two th i rds o f the i r v i ew ing . I TV 2 , L i v i ng TV , UKTV S ty l e , E4 and the ch i l d ren ' s channe l s such as Ca r toon Ne twork a re amongs t the i r f avour i tes .

I n genera l housewives w i th k i ds have a p re fe rence f o r soaps . Unsurpr i s i ng l y , Co rona t i on S t ree t Eas tEnders and Emmerda le a re the b igges t p rogrammes i n te rms o f vo l ume . Drama and ente r ta i nment ( espec i a l l y The X Fac to r and The S impsons ) a l so f ea tures h i gh l y and k i ds p rogrammi ng i s tw i ce as popu la r amongs t th i s aud ience than w i th adu l t s a s a who le . Re l i g i on , spo r t and po l i t i ca l b roadcas t s t end to tu rn th i s aud i ence off but rea l i t y se rves the oppos i te f unc t i on (espec i a l l y B ig B ro the r. ) News content i s a l so l e ss popu la r , w i th many women c i t i ng news to be more upse t t i ng when they 've had ch i l d ren o f the i r own .

A l though housewi ves w i th k i ds have the same tendenc ies to wa tch i n peak as o the r demograph i c s , they a l so wa tch th roughout the day , p rov i d i ng ample ta rge t i ng oppo r tun i t i e s . TV i f o f t en used as an accompan i ment t o o the r ac t i v i t i e s , pa r t i cu l a r l y househo l d cho res - t h i s g roup a re sk i l l ed mu l t i -t a ske rs . They a l so use TV t ime as t ime - out f rom the i r da i l y schedu les . B reak fas t v i ew ing i s h i gh , usua l l y t o GMTV when the househo l d k i cks i n to gea r and the k i ds a re ge t t i ng ready f o r schoo l . Coff ee t i me (0925 -1200 ) i s a l so popu la r , w i th cha t ( eg . Lo rra i ne ) and magaz i ne f o rmats such as Th i s Mo rn i ng p rov ing appea l i ng i n te rms o f bo th ente r ta i nment and i n f o rmat i on . Pos t schoo l a l so works we l l , pa r t i cu l a r l y as a t ime f o r sha red v i ew i ng , where k i ds and mums can be reached s imu l taneous l y

HOUSEWIVES WITH CHILDREN

Kids continue to race to maturity at an astonishing rate. They have complex social networks, formed both inside and outside the home through everything from school to online social media. They also soak-up new technology, with most showing none of the trepidation in relation to new developments that their parents experience. In fact, technology is fi rmly rooted at the heart of children's l ives.

In recent years, the entertainment options available to them have exploded - not least in terms of TV where they have a dazzling array of channels available to them through the digital network.

For both boys and girls, music channels, children's channels, sport and fi lm are the main drivers of viewing, although there is some variation between the sexes on the genres consumed. In terms of programming, there are signifi cant variations by gender, but even in multi-channel homes, EastEnders and The Simpsons remain fi rm favourites amongst both sexes. Increasingly, and especial ly as children develop, content aimed at adults becomes fi rmly embedded in the viewing habits of kids.

CHILDREN

Boys are less inclined to watch BBC1 than girls but their consumption of fi ve is higher.

Sky One is a fi rm favourite amongst this audience, particularly the 13-14s where it watched by nearly 60 per cent of them. Perhaps surprisingly, news channels are appealing to boys with 27 per cent of 11-16 year olds tuning in. Music and kids channels are as equally important to boys as to girls and continue to form the crux of their viewing. Boys are particularly avid consumers of cartoons with 30 per cent claiming to have watched a cartoon channel in the last week. Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and The Disney Channel remain fi rm favourites.

Although there is some variation by age, cartoons stil l rank highly with boys under the age of 12. As they hit their teen years, sports and music become the main focus.

BOYS & TV

Gir ls c la im to watch 2.4 hours of TV per day, a l though this increases as they mature and their tastes switch to a broader range of genres such as soaps and real i ty. Virtual ly a l l have access to digita l with over 80 per cent c la iming to have watched BBC1 or ITV in the last week, a l though they st i l l watch high levels of terrestr ia l . 65 per cent of gir ls have a DVD player in their rooms (Boys are more l ikely to have DVDs, perhaps as they demand newer technology). Channel 4 proves more popular with gir ls than boys, largely due to content such as Hol lyoaks and Big Brother.

Digital ly, ITV2 is proving an increasing favouri te for gir ls , especial ly amongst the 15-16 year olds. However, their tastes are varied and music, movies, news and documentaries a lso feature strongly on their programming radars. Drama, soaps, comedy and s i tcoms (usual ly a imed at adults) provide the basis of most of their viewing and this dist inguishes them most from boys who favour cartoons.

As gir ls develop, so do their tastes. Unti l the age of 9, gir ls favour chi ldren's channels and cartoons, but music rapidly takes over as they near their teens. As they move through their teenage years, music becomes the pr imary focus, part icular ly MTV and the pop based channels, a l though the older element become more susceptible to entertainment programming across channels l ike ITV2, Trouble and E4

GIRLS & TV