The Los Angeles Times reports that kids have Nickelodeon, women have Lifetime, and sports enthusiasts have ESPN ... and so the time seems to have come for aging baby boomers to get their own cable channel. Hence, a new network called RLTV, described as “a cable channel designed for the AARP-adjacent.”
RLTV, the story says, has “talk shows including ‘Making Medicare Work for You,’ documentaries such as ‘To Not Fade Away’ about the early stages ofAlzheimer's disease and, on a lighter note, reality shows including ‘Another Chance for Romance’ and ‘Sunset Daze,’ best described as a"Jersey Shore" for adventurous senior citizens in Surprise, Ariz.
“Fronting the shows is a collection of aging TV presenters. Former morning news hosts Joan Lunden, 61, and Deborah Norville, 53, have RLTV shows. So do former prime-time personalities Sam Donaldson and Florence Henderson, both 77.”
The story notes that cable companies will see the advantages of carrying such a network: “The power of the aging baby boomers can't be ignored. According to the 2010 census, there are more than 99 million Americans older than 50. The over-50s are also one of the fastest-growing groups on Facebook.
“And they have money. The AARP, citing information from the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey, says adults over the age of 50 spent $2.7 trillion on consumer goods in 2010.”
RLTV, the story says, has “talk shows including ‘Making Medicare Work for You,’ documentaries such as ‘To Not Fade Away’ about the early stages ofAlzheimer's disease and, on a lighter note, reality shows including ‘Another Chance for Romance’ and ‘Sunset Daze,’ best described as a"Jersey Shore" for adventurous senior citizens in Surprise, Ariz.
“Fronting the shows is a collection of aging TV presenters. Former morning news hosts Joan Lunden, 61, and Deborah Norville, 53, have RLTV shows. So do former prime-time personalities Sam Donaldson and Florence Henderson, both 77.”
The story notes that cable companies will see the advantages of carrying such a network: “The power of the aging baby boomers can't be ignored. According to the 2010 census, there are more than 99 million Americans older than 50. The over-50s are also one of the fastest-growing groups on Facebook.
“And they have money. The AARP, citing information from the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey, says adults over the age of 50 spent $2.7 trillion on consumer goods in 2010.”
- KC's View:
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If you want to talk to these shoppers - and it has been pretty well established that a lot of marketers want to - then it is important to know about the availability of such networks.
BTW...I love that RLTV originally stood for “Retirement Living TV,” but now has been recast as “Redefine Life TV.”
