Ageism televised nationwide

Australian television networks are ageist and need to treat older people with more respect, Herald Sun opinion writer, Colin Vickery, claims.

Mr Vickery says 2013, the year he turns 55, will be the year when Australian commercial TV networks “don’t give a stuff about [him]”.

“As far as they are concerned, I might as well be dead. I’m not going to take it personally,” he says.

He claims major Australian TV networks “do not care about anyone 55 years of age or older”, and says the networks are “too busy chasing younger viewers, and their target audiences are those between the ages of 16 to 54 years of age.

“That’s because they are the age groups that advertisers and media buyers desperately want to reach. It is a strategy that is just plain stupid,” Mr Vickery suggests.

Baby boomers allegedly watch more TV than any other generation and are “loyal to programs, yet ignored”.

“The reason Downton Abbey is this year’s biggest TV hit is because almost 900,000 of its 1.9 million viewers are 55 years of age or older.

“According to the TV networks, I’m pretty much ready to be packed off to the nursing home. It can’t be too long before I start experiencing rapid dementia and lose complete control of my bodily functions,” Mr Vickery asserts. “But isn’t 50 the new 40, 60 the new 50 and 70 the new 60?” he asks.

Mr Vickery accuses TV networks of “indulging in a form of ageism, stereotyping and discrimination against people because of their age”, and says ageism is “even worse” in sport.

A Deakin University research paper recently found ageist attitudes are rife throughout Australia. According to the Victorian study, Generations X and Y view older people as “fragile, unproductive and a burden on society”.

Researchers said those biased attitudes can have a profound impact as older people who are respected tend to have greater life satisfaction, including a sense of usefulness and involvement with their community and family.

Another recent study conducted in the UK suggested older people were “disappearing” from television screens because program makers were discriminating against people aged 60 years of age and older.

“The media are missing a particularly lucrative market,” the British researchers say.

The study reported just 7% of the UK’s television population – including both fictional and factual programs – are over 60 years of age, although they only make up 21% of the “real world”.

Mr Vickery says another side-effect of the chase for younger viewers in Australian TV, is there are very few roles for actors of a certain age.

“These older viewers just want to get a glimpse of a character they can relate to. Age is just a number, the saying goes, and that couldn’t be more true in 2011,” he says.

“These days, people in their 50s, 60s, 70s and even 80s are running marathons, skydiving, and clubbing with the best of them. They also have a wealth of experience and wisdom that, if properly tapped, can be of immense benefit to all of society through teaching and mentoring.”

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