Teenage TV Viewing and the "Teen" Demographic
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Teenagers and Television in the United States both the American economy and the teen population. In of series included various types of youth marginalized turn, this rise in teen programming is related to various by the TV industry in earlier periods. For example, transformations in the TV industry, especially the in- several teen sitcoms focused specifically on African - creased amount of media -industry conglomeration and American youth, including Hull High, Fresh Prince of the introduction of cable and satellite delivery systems. Bel Aim; Moesha, and Sister Sister while many other One of the more significant aspects of this period teen shows featured mixed -race casts. In turn, several was the TV and advertising industries' specific appeal teen serials from this period included forms of youth to female youth as television viewers. Given the con- identity traditionally excluded from TV programming. siderable amount of recent marketing research demon- For instance, My So -Called Life (ABC 1994-95) was strating that girls tend to watch TV more than boys the first prime -time series to include a bisexual (due in part to female youth having less independence teenager; The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo (Nick- from parents and homes), girls. who also tend to shop elodeon 1996-99) was the first prime -time program to more than boys, became the most appealing niche mar- feature an Asian -American teen; and Dangerous ket for those advertisers interested in attracting the Minds (ABC 1996-97) was the first prime -time show large 1990s' teen demographic. to focus on Latino youth. Not surprisingly, the teen sitcom was one of the pri- mary genres to feature teenagers in the 1990s. Several Teenage TV Viewing and the "Teen" popular teen comedies from the 1980s continued into Demographic the next decade, while a considerable number of new shows were introduced also, including Hull High While the broadcasting of teen programming is clearly (NBC 1990), Fresh Prince of Bel Air (NBC 1990-96), related to marketers' attempts to attract a specific Blossom (NBC 1991-95), Phenom (ABC 1993-94), group of consumers, research on TV viewing habits Boy Meets World (ABC 1993-2000), Sister, Sister conducted at various points during the past five de- (WB 1994-99), Moesha (UPN 1995-2001), Clueless cades demonstrates that teenagers use this medium far (ABC 1996-97; UPN 1997-99), Sabrina, the Teenage less than any other demographic group except infants. Witch (ABC 1996 2001; WB 2001-present), and That Because of their interest in non -domestic activities that '70s Show (FOX 1998-present). Attesting to the con- involve the privileging of peer, rather than familial, re- siderable popularity of Saved by the Bell, when the se- lationships, many teenagers do not rely on television ries ended in 1993, a new show based on the original as their primary leisure activity. Although television was introduced, Saved by the Bell: The New Class has always competed for teen consumers with other (NBC 1993-2000). forms of entertainment and leisure, the increasing pen- Although teenage representation in 1990s' television etration of personal computers. the Internet, and the was largely associated with the teen sitcom, teenage World Wide Web into American homes over the course characters also appeared in animated cartoons, such as of the late -20th and early -21st centuries has led to an Beavis and Butt -head (MTV 1993-97) and Darin even greater decline in teen TV viewing. (MTV 1997-2001). One of the most significant pro- The fifty -odd -year tradition of teenagers' minimal gramming phenomena of this period, however, was the television use calls into question the assumed relation- emergence of the teen -centered dramatic serial, which ship between teen programming and teenage viewers. merged conventions of soap operas, teen sitcoms, and Indeed, ratings for many recent teen -centered series other genres that have traditionally featured adult char- suggest that those individuals perhaps most invested in acters, such as horror and science fiction. Some of the teen programming today are not teenagers (who typi- more popular teen serials introduced in the 1990s in- cally steer clear of products marketed as "teen"), but clude Beverly Hills, 90210 (FOX 1990-2000), Party of rather those viewers who look to teenagers as role mod- Five (FOX 1994-2((X)), Buffv the Vampire Slayer (WB els, especially pre -teens and young adults. Thus, while 1997-2001; UPN 2001-2003), Dawson's Creek (WB the teen audience originally constructed by early TV 1998-2002), and Roswell (WB 1999-2002). executives and advertisers may have been restricted to Many of these teen serials relied on the coming -of- actual teenagers, today's "teen" demographic now en- age tropes already associated with the teen sitcom; compasses viewers between the ages of 12 and 34. however, due to their adherence to melodramatic con- The recent expansion of TV's "teen" demographic is ventions, these serials also included issues of concern due to transformations in both the television industry to contemporary teenagers. such as sexual experimen- and generational identities over the last few decades. For tation, gang membership, and teen pregnancy. While instance, better nutrition is causing children to mature the majority of 1990s' teen programs focused on physically at an earlier age than ever before, and adver- white, middle-class teenagers, a considerable number tisers are encouraging them to adopt aspirational behav- 2280 .