The Huge, Fast-Growing Audience That Hollywood is Just Ignoring

People over 50 represent a third of the U.S. population and they’re desperate for stories and characters geared to their interests.

I actually find this kind of funny for reasons I’ll explain down below. Esquire recently published an article: The Huge, Fast-Growing Audience That Hollywood is Just Ignoring. That audience?

Today’s wildly complicated media landscape is just as challenging for companies to monetize as it is for consumers to navigate. Consider that, according to the Deloitte Digital Media Trends Study, U.S. users have an average of four streaming service subscriptions. But experts point to a high rate of churn as customers often subscribe to a service to catch a hot new series only to then cancel after they’ve finished it. The viewer is in control like never before. And equally as fickle, regardless of their age.

These dynamics are playing a role in the standoff between the studios and the Writers Guild of America, which recently went on strike. The writers say they aren’t being paid a fairly in the brave new world of streaming and want better wages and a bigger share of residuals for their work on streaming services. The longer the standoff goes, the bigger the disruption will be for the pipeline of new shows and films. And as everyone in the business knows, great storytelling is what matters most in the battle for consumers regardless of the changing platforms and business models.

Meanwhile, in a post-COVID world, movie theaters still have a long way to go to get back to pre-pandemic attendance levels. According to the 2021 THEME Report from the Motion Picture Association, the U.S./Canada box office market only recovered to $4.5 billion vs. $11.4 billion in 2019.The number of screens in the U.S. remained stable at just over 40,000, but the question remains: Will the moviegoer come back in a meaningful way?

While Hollywood execs ponder that question, they’re also reckoning with recession fears, inflation, and higher interest rates. And after years of expansion and experimentation, a wave of consolidation has begun in the streaming world. That includes HBO Max being re-branded as MAX and incorporating content from Discovery+, as well as Disney’s announcement that it plans to combine Disney+ and Hulu into one app.

But even as media power players continue to jockey for market share, there is one phenomenon happening in the U.S. and most of the developed world that the entertainment industry has yet to recognize, embrace, and capitalize on. And it represents a powerful opportunity to reel in enormous audiences. What is this market that is hiding in plain sight? The rapidly growing number of global consumers over the age of 50. [emphasis added]

Why did the article induce a series of hearty guffaws on my part? I have been talking about this quite literally since I launched Go Into The Story in 2008. As evidence, go here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Of course, I was talking mostly about Baby Boomers. During the last 15 years since my blog went live, a whole slew of “young people” have hit the Big 5–0. And check this out:

However, the data is undeniable. Today’s 50-plus consumer is reshaping everything in our culture, as they live longer and demand new ways to entertain them. They already comprise 36 percent of the U.S. population and some 10,000 people a day are turning 50. In 2030, the first Millennials turn 50 and by then one in five Americans will be 65 or older. There will be more people over 50 than under 18.

In the U.S., the over-50-year-olds spend a total of $8.3 trillion a year right now and by 2030 will be spending $13 trillion a year. They hold more than 70% of the $92 trillion in private wealth in the U.S. They’re already a generation like no other that has lived on planet earth.

It’s a tech-savvy, highly engaged consumer group with a lot of disposable income to spend on entertainment and culture. And these folks are more and more vocal in how they are represented in movies, television, and advertising. They are way ahead of the culture in attitude and behaviors — and content producers are way behind.

So once again, I’ll hit this suggestion: Make movies and TV for “old folks.” For writers, that can translate into story and series ideation, character development, and how older characters are portrayed onscreen.

I’m convinced now, as I’ve been all along, that there’s a lot of money right there on the table which Hollywood could be scooping up if they’d just make producing stories which appeal to the older set.

The Esquire article goes into the subject in great detail. You may read the rest of it here.