Americans in Their 40s and 50s Are Far More Likely to Describe Themselves As the TV Generation Than As Baby Boomers, TV Land Study Finds

Americans in Their 40s and 50s Are Far More Likely to Describe Themselves As the TV Generation Than As Baby Boomers, TV Land Study Finds

Study Provides Surprising Insights into Most Meaningful Cultural and Historical Events of Boomers' Lives

ANAHEIM, Calif., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 -- commonly referred to as Baby Boomers -- are far more likely to describe themselves as The TV Generation than Baby Boomers, a new study from TV Land has found. Additionally, the study found that the most meaningful cultural and historic events of Boomers' lives were not Woodstock and the war in Vietnam, as many would believe. Rather, the birth of cable television and the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger explosion ranked as the overall most meaningful cultural and historic milestones in their lives, respectively.

The study was conducted by Latitude and commissioned by TV Land as part of its on-going efforts to gain a deeper understanding of how to best communicate with America's 78 million Baby Boomers. It was released at Life@50+ AARP's National Event & Expo held this weekend at the Anaheim Convention Center. More research on this generation will be expressed by TV Land when the network unveils TV Land's New Generation Gap Study in New York on Tuesday, November 14, 2006.

By and large, Boomers are a diverse generation and many do not strongly identify with the "Boomer" label. One quarter of the 40-60 year olds polled said they felt that Baby Boomers were older than they feel and 57% expressed feeling younger than their actual current age would suggest. Of the respondents, only 20% described themselves as Boomers, while 56% described themselves as belonging to The TV Generation. The study was conducted via an online survey of 1,200 persons in their 40s and 50s earlier this year.

The study also asked respondents to choose the most meaningful cultural and historic events of their formative years. Their top five cultural events were:

* The birth of cable television 45%
* The creation of color television 40%
* The death of John Lennon 37%
* The disco era 33%
* The death of Elvis 29%

When asked about the most meaningful historical events of their formative years, the top five responses were:

* The Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion (1986) 57%
* John F. Kennedy's assassination 52%
* The war in Vietnam 52%
* Ronald Reagan's term as President of the U.S. 42%
* Nixon's Resignation/Iran Hostage Crisis/ 38%
Discovery of AIDS (tie)

"This study challenges a lot of assumptions we all make about Baby Boomers and these findings remind us that a generation 78 million strong is not in any way monolithic or singular," explains Larry W. Jones, President of TV Land and Nick at Nite. "As a society, many of us wrongly believe Boomers would cite Woodstock as the top cultural event in their lives and the findings illustrate the dangers of making broad based assumptions about or stereotyping Boomers."

"In many ways, it's not surprising that the first generation of Americans to grow up alongside television would embrace the TV Generation moniker more so than the Baby Boomer label," explains Tanya Giles, Senior Vice President, Research, TV Land. "While it may be useful shorthand to refer to this generation as Baby Boomers, we know the importance of speaking to this generation's life stage and making emotional connections through thoughtful and insightful communications."

About Latitude

Latitude is an innovative custom audience research and consulting firm, with a dedicated focus on television, the Internet, print, and cross-platform convergence. By creating a sophisticated bridge between business strategy and audience preferences, Latitude provides clients with actionable insight for content development, marketing strategy, and new business opportunities.

About TV Land

Now seen in over 88 million U.S. homes, TV Land is a division of MTV Networks. TV Land's program mix features popular dramas, sitcoms, westerns, Retromercials and a TV-referential interstitial environment, all programmed with a specific audience in mind -- the first generation of Americans to grow up watching television and features all-time Classic hits like All in the Family, I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, and Bonanza.

MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc. (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:VIA.B), owns and operates the following television programming services -- MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, mtvU, VHI, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN, MTV INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 12 digital services, all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.

About Viacom

Viacom is a leading global entertainment content company, with prominent and respected brands in focused demographics. Offering programming and content for television, motion pictures and digital platforms, Viacom's world-class brands include MTV Networks (MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Comedy Central, CMT: Country Music Television, Spike TV, TV Land, Logo and more than 120 networks around the world), BET, Paramount Pictures, Paramount Home Entertainment, DreamWorks and Famous Music. More information about Viacom and its businesses is available at http://www.viacom.com/.

Source: TV Land

CONTACT: Paul Ward, +1-212-258-7704, or Vanessa Reyes, +1-310-752-8081,
both of TV Land & Nick at Nite

Web site: http://www.nick-at-nite.com/
http://www.viacom.com/

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