Average TV viewer is age 40

The median age of prime-time network TV viewers is creeping steadily upward even as the population’s median age has remained steady, according to the latest analysis of viewer age trends.

An annual study by ad buyer Magna Global USA shows the four major networks each had a median age of 40 or more for the first time, meaning half of viewers are older and half younger than that figure.

CBS remains the oldest-skewing network, with a median age of 53. ABC’s grew from 46 to 48 in the past year.

NBC, once a youth magnet with comedies such as “Friends,” now has a median age of 49 – the top end of the 18-to-49 age range most advertisers target – thanks to the heavy loads of older-skewing “Dateline,” “Deal or No Deal” and “Law & Order” on its schedule.

Fox crept upward from a median age of 35 in the 2002-03 season to 39 in 2005-06, and increased sharply to age 42 for the season that ended in May.

The new CW was the only network to get younger. It dropped to 32, from the combined average 34 of its two predecessors, UPN and WB, last year.

The age profile is a reflection of the programs each network offers. Newsmagazines tend to attract more older viewers than any other program type, and comedies skew younger than dramas.

Reality series typically draw a younger crowd than either, with the exception of game shows and “Dancing With the Stars,” ABC’s oldest-skewing show. And long-running series tend to gain an older profile as their viewers age along with them.

Fox’s decision to air more conventional dramas last season contributed to its aging profile. “Vanished” and “Justice,” both canceled, had the network’s oldest viewers; “24” was not far behind.

And the only growth in the “American Idol” audience last season was among viewers 55 and older.

Among the study’s other findings:

“The audience for NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” had a median age of 45, well up from 39 four years earlier. Among late-night talk hosts, Conan O’Brien was at 44, David Letterman 51 and Jay Leno 52.

“Cable networks Fox News, Hallmark, CNN and GSN had the oldest viewership, each with a median age of more than 60 in prime time.

“Viewers of Tyra Banks and Maury Povich were the youngest among syndicated talk shows, with a median age of 40. Audiences for Martha Stewart and Chris Matthews were oldest at 57.