Targeting millennials? Median age of Sling TV programming is 48

Marketed with the slogan "Take Back TV," Dish Network has billed its new Sling TV package as an OTT service aimed squarely at millennial-aged consumers.

But analyzing the channels included in Sling TV's basic programming tier using Nielsen Live+7 data, Deadline Hollywood's David Lieberman finds some contradictory data.

Notably, the median viewer age of Sling TV channels is 48—a benchmark significantly older than the "around 40" median age that many basic cable networks tout.

CNN, for example, has a median age of 59.1, while HGTV (56.4), TNT (53.6), ESPN2 (53.1), ESPN (48.6), Travel Channel (48.2), Food Network (47.6) and TBS (44.4) aren't necessarily targeting spring chickens, either.

On the flip side, the median ages of a few other Sling TV basic-tier networks, Cartoon Network (median age 11.9) and Disney Channel (11.7), are actually too young to be classified as "millennial."

"When you look at how many gray-haired viewers tune in to the programming Sling will offer, it's clear that the service may appeal more to cash-strapped cable and satellite subscribers than it will to young adults," Lieberman writes. "Why not take advantage of that by urging consumers to replace their bloated, and costly, all-or-nothing programming bundles? Perhaps a slogan like: 'Cut Back TV'?"

For more:
- read this Deadline Hollywood story

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