Whedonesque : Comments on 22004 : The median age of Dollhouse is revealed.

Interesting phrasing on that... we seem to be generating some buzz, if that's the kind of reaction we're getting.

ManEnoughToAdmitIt | October 13, 20:15 CET

The first comment on that page terrifies me. A 32 year old who watches the Vampire Diaries and Family Guy? That's a joke, right?

Anyway, I guess it's good to be on the younger side of things since advertisers prize the youth, but now we have to get the quantity of people watching to go up.

bonzob | October 13, 20:21 CET

Is it wrong I want it to be 42?

worldofhiglet | October 13, 20:33 CET

It had crossed my mind too.

Simon | October 13, 20:43 CET

Honestly was the one of the first thoughts through my head, Simon and worldofhighlet...we need younger viewers to lower the average to the secret of the universe! Geek honour demands it!

;)

BlueEyedBrigadier | October 13, 20:48 CET

Interesting. More from the perspective that advertisers prefer to see younger viewers, so the age for the new Leno show hurts them, not that NBC is doing so well with it anyway. 43 is older than I would have thought for DH, as well.

Dana5140 | October 13, 20:49 CET

Hey, I'm 50. So, I'm slightly too old for this show...but I'll watch anyway. Also, isn't 43 a bit older than Fox's target audience?
and 32 for "Vampire Diaries"? I thought 29 was the maximum age for CW viewers.

[ edited by impalergeneral on 2009-10-13 20:54 ]

impalergeneral | October 13, 20:53 CET

That's extremely high. I'm 23.

Riker | October 13, 21:02 CET

Doesn't tell us anything about the distribution and I wish the article hadn't bounced back and forth between talking about the median and the average (which aren't necessarily different but in common usage usually are) but it's attention (or symptomatic of attention) so it's all good.

Saje | October 13, 21:19 CET

This is very odd. But it might explain why I've yet to meet anyone my age who's heard of Dollhouse absent my intervention.

Jobo | October 13, 21:21 CET

Why is 32 such a surprise for Vampire Diaries? Aren't some of the main characters over 100 years old? I'd think the older characters would appeal to the older set.

roofpig | October 13, 21:28 CET

Interesting. Only 20, here.

And yeah, 42 crossed my mind too. So close! ;)

CZGoldEdition | October 13, 21:36 CET

Maybe they're working with live viewers only. That would explain why the numbers are higher than expected.

fanshawe | October 13, 21:36 CET

Yeah but if they counted dead viewers i'd expect the median age to be even higher. 'Dollhouse' is huge among the respirationally challenged.

Saje | October 13, 21:43 CET

Wow, really? I feel like an infant if that's the case.

jiggyfly | October 13, 22:09 CET

I'm sucky at math, but why would they choose to find the median over the mean?

fortunateizzi | October 13, 22:15 CET

I surprised Glee is 37. I think every girl at my daughter's high school watches that show.

jcs | October 13, 22:20 CET

I apologise for dragging the age up a mile.

Caroline | October 13, 22:21 CET

The average age of TV viewers in general is high, so all shows are going to be pulled up. Even CW averages at least in the 30s. The older viewers outnumber and cancel out the younger ones. Nothing surprising, but good that Dollhouse is within the desired 18-49 range.

hacksaway | October 13, 22:26 CET

why would they choose to find the median over the mean?

The ~~mean~~ median is less affected by really low and really high numbers.

[ edited by Sunfire on 2009-10-13 22:54 ]

Sunfire | October 13, 22:29 CET

I'm 28 and I watch Vampire Diaries. And Dollhouse. Man, I'm totally fraking Nielsen up.

gossi | October 13, 22:30 CET

The mean is less affected by really low and really high numbers.

I'm assuming this is a typo but it's actually the median which is less affected by extremes (really low and really high numbers).

helcat | October 13, 22:50 CET

Yep. I fixed it.

Sunfire | October 13, 22:56 CET

I watch the Simpsons AND Law & Order. Will the universe collapse?

kazzmere | October 13, 23:18 CET

Yes... I wanted 42 too.

BrownCoat_Tabz | October 13, 23:26 CET

Well I'm 34 and a girl and I watch Family Guy, lots of CW shows, cartoons and Antiques Roadshow. I laugh in the face of your restricted viewer demographics.

Then I remember I'm not in the US, so am not counted anyway.

missb | October 13, 23:55 CET

I watch the Simpsons AND Law & Order. Will the universe collapse?

It might. Would you mind giving one of them up, just in case? I like the universe.

catherine | October 14, 00:18 CET

My... I had no idea my fellow DH viewers are so old!

[Hides behind a conveniently placed ming vase]

brinderwalt | October 14, 02:32 CET

I'm 17... yay? My little brother is 11, and he's watching as well. Sadly, the fact that I rope my father into watching every Friday probably cancels our youth out. ;)

pancakegirl | October 14, 02:49 CET

I'm 45 & my hubby is 47 but we watch with our kids and they are 20 & 23 so we kind of cancel each other out!

Firefly Flanatic | October 14, 02:58 CET

43 sounded old to me, too. But if you look at the article, it's well in the lower half, maybe even the lower quarter of ages. Only Community, Glee, Vampire Diaries, Melrose Place, and the Cleveland Show were younger. (The list is only NEW shows, of course. Apparently, The Simpsons average age is 30, for instance.)

Septimus | October 14, 03:02 CET

I'm 19 and male so... Target demo right here. Sell me stuff, FOX/Global!

Brisco | October 14, 03:29 CET

I'm 23, and from what I've heard around my campus, a lot of people my age don't seem to watch that much TV. It certainly could just be the area I live in, but most people seem to be busy doing other things. If they do watch, it's usually online.

deepgirl187 | October 14, 03:35 CET

I'm 37 and I watch the CW. Well, I only watch Supernatural on the CW.

AngelDiva | October 14, 03:36 CET

As Hitchhiker's was originally broadcast in '78 and published in '79, I find it funny that so many fans of "42" are surprised that the median age is so old!

Looks to me like good fiction can span a wide age range :D

Loose Deckplate | October 14, 04:32 CET

Raising my soon to be 25-year-old hand to say "hey" and scratch my head.

CrazyKidBen | October 14, 05:09 CET

I'm 15. And one of the few people in my area to know of the show's existence... This makes me sad.

Chrisham2 | October 14, 05:10 CET

The older I get, the younger anything under 50 seems.

TDBrown | October 14, 05:59 CET

I'm 54 and that figure just keeps rising from what I can tell, although I am math-challenged.

Well, that's my median age. My average age is 42 and my mean age is just... mean, so that could be younger or older depending on what I'm getting mean about - right? I think I'm getting this.

BTW, at 54, I have more disposable income than most of the 19 y.o. I know. Put that in your coveted demographic and smoke it.

Sorry, that's my mean age poking its head out again.

I like what Marge's sister Patty or was it Selma said:

"The older you get, the cuter you ain't."

I hope this has been helpful.

QuoterGal | October 14, 09:30 CET

My mean age varies throughout the day and is partly a function of blood caffeine levels.

Saje | October 14, 11:04 CET

I apologize for bringing up the median. Should I stop watching?

I also watch Smallville. Goodness knows what I'm doing to that one. :)

redeem147 | October 14, 12:07 CET

A good story transcends arbitrary barriers such as age. I'll watch nearly anything with good writing.

And I apologize for my 52 years skewing the data.

bojojoti | October 14, 12:35 CET

I'm 29, and I'm (obviously) watching Dollhouse. I also watch The Good Wife, FlashForward, Modern Family, Cougar Town, and Glee. In other words, I'm all over the map on the age ranges given in that list. Like bojojoti said, I'll watch nearly anything that's good.

JMaloney | October 14, 14:52 CET

If they knew I was watching then I would ruin the curve (since I'm 59). But they don't want to know whether or not I'm watching, I don't count.

embers | October 14, 15:45 CET

Oh, jeezo petes, Gossi is younger than my kids, the older ones of which are 29. Lord help me. (I'm 56 and older than dirt; I saw Blue Cheer live back in the day...).

Dana5140 | October 14, 16:31 CET

I'm 34 and I thought you all were too! I wonder if the demo differs in the UK!?

bubblecat | October 14, 19:23 CET

I never kiss 'em on the mouth, and I never reveal my age for fear of hurting a show I like by not being in the tasty target demo. Think of me in that good old Gilbert and Sullivan phrase: "She may very well pass for forty-three in the dusk with the light behind her."

FloralBonnet | October 14, 19:35 CET

Quotergal: I hope this has been helpful.

Very! I'm still giggling. Also at bubblecat: I'm 34 and I thought you all were too!

You guys is funny. I'm 33, getting less mean but more median all the time. We might come out with 43 if we just used the ages revealed in this thread.

catherine | October 14, 19:43 CET

Intended to jump on this before it got cold.

To play devil's advocate, Dollhouse demographic data is based on a pretty slim and tenuous sample (around 500 households-- if you want, I'll break it down), so it likely skews younger than reported.

Whedonage | October 14, 19:57 CET

Not sure I follow- why would it skew younger with a sample of 500? Are you saying the sample is not representative? IF so, why?

Dana5140 | October 14, 22:25 CET

Primarily because Nielsen participants are self-selected based on residence and viewing habits; they look for those who are in fairly stable home environments, where the monitoring devices can be installed for five years. In non-People-Meter homes, participants (particularly teens/young adults) aren't assiduous about writing down their every viewing moment-- there's no great benefit to them to do so. (Nielsen families are given a paltry sum of perhaps $1-$2 dollars per device monitored.)

Additionally, Nielsen doesn't do a very good job tracking college students/dorms or group viewing areas-- the entire population of Nielsen viewers in college settings was around 130, when they finally started monitoring them two years ago.

So in all, the likelihood is that the median age will skew higher when you can't capture younger viewing habits.

Whedonage | October 15, 00:55 CET

October 13 2009