Seeking Content, Not Just Flash   

A group of Generation-Xers responds positively to serious news.

Generation-X may not be as turned off by news as most radio and television news executives believe. Give them news – real news, not pseudo news about hair styling and tattoos – and the Gen-Xers will listen and watch just like their elders.

At least that's what a diverse group of Gen-Xers from New Orleans told news executives during a seminar at the Radio-Television News Directors Association convention in September.

In the last year or so, it has been commonly accepted that members of Generation-X, men and women born after 1964, are not as interested in news as their parents and grandparents were in their 20s. But unless radio and television can do something to get the Gen-Xers to tune in to the news, say the experts, their audiences will continue to shrink. That's one reason many news organizations are rushing to the Internet, developing Web pages that would supposedly appeal to the technological mindset of the Gen-Xers.

"The challenge is how to get the Gen-Xers to watch me so that I have them in 10 years but without driving away all the older viewers I now have," says Dave Vincent, news director at WLOX-TV in Biloxi.

During the RTNDA seminar, Gen-Xers surprised news executives by their reaction to various news stories, teases and promotional spots. While several hundred news directors sat in a large room watching on TV screens, the Gen-Xers viewed and evaluated the material from a smaller room where they could not see the news directors.

Contrary to the belief that Gen-Xers are turned off by stories about their community and government, this group frequently found those stories were more interesting than ones about entertainment, sports and off-beat subjects.

"What we saw is that you don't have to appeal to the Gen-X by something extreme," says Kenn Venit, vice president for Primo Newservice, a consulting firm. "They're interested in content like everyone else."

Presentation was a factor, but not as important as some of the news directors expected. It is widely believed that Gen-X won't watch news stories that don't utilize MTV-style video. Wrong again.

"MTV type of video is overused and Gen-X viewers know it," says Ian Rubin, executive producer at News 12 Connecticut, a regional 24-hour cable news operation, and a Gen-Xer himself. "Some of the production techniques used to hook Gen-X viewers should be the same techniques we have used for years to attract the older viewers."

Another belief is that Gen-Xers have very short attention spans and will click the remote button instantly if a news story or news tease does not appeal to them in the first few seconds. That may be true, but the New Orleans group didn't react much differently from the news directors when certain stories were shown. Many stories that bored the Gen-Xers also were rejected by the news directors.

"Frankly, they didn't seem too much different from other viewers," says Gary Hanson, former news director at WKBN-TV in Youngstown, Ohio. "They don't want their time wasted. I was particularly struck by how they were turned off by news teases and promotions. They want the news, not the teases, and I believe many older viewers are that way, too."

The Internet was not as much a part of the Gen-Xers' lives as many of the news directors expected, either. When asked if they use the Internet to seek additional information about news, few in the group said yes, and many said they do not browse the Internet at all.

Perhaps the biggest surprise at the seminar was that the Gen-Xers frequently did not agree on the type of news stories they liked or didn't like.

"The Gen-X should not be lumped together as one, no more than any other group," says Rubin.

Vincent agrees but adds, "That makes it tougher for us if we are trying to figure out what news stories would appeal to them to get them to watch consistently."

Vincent believes one solution is to have a diverse news staff that includes Gen-Xers among the decision makers. "When we have our editorial meetings, the young producers have a point of view that is different than mine and that helps shape how we do the news," he says. "We not only discuss what news is, but we discuss how to approach it and what graphics and video we should use, and that helps us appeal to Gen-X viewers as well as our older ones."

The danger, though, is concentrating on attracting Gen-X viewers and assuming the over 35 audience will continue to be there.

"You can win the Gen-X but lose your prime demographic audience," says Will Wright, news director at WWOR-TV in Secaucus, New Jersey. "And without the 25-to-54 audience, your news cannot be profitable. If you get an 8 rating in teens and only a 1 rating in the plus 25, your GM is going to come into your office and measure you immediately for a casket."