Graying Lineup?

TBS? overall coverage of the MLB playoffs has grown 5% in total viewers since ?08, often catapults the net to cable prime supremacy during 3 Oct weeks, and attracts healthy advertising interest. After all, baseball is part of the red-hot sports genre that importantly drives live viewership in an age of rampant time-shifting across platforms. Yet a trend of ebbing viewership among ad-friendly 18-49s bears noting, and coupled with data covering certain other demos may hint at an aging of baseball?s fan base. In ?08, for example, approx 45% of the total viewers for TBS? playoff coverage were 18-49s, but this year that percentage fell to 41%. Viewership among men 18-34 has fallen to 14% from 19% over the same period, and to 19% from 20% among all 18-34s. Men 18-49, 25-54s and men 25-54 all exhibit similar trend lines too, although a couple demos did achieve slight YOY rebounds in ?10. Moreover, during the 3 consecutive weeks this month in which TBS staged playoff contests, 44% of the net?s total prime viewership was comprised of 18-49s. During the 3 prior weeks, however, the demo made up approx 58% of total viewership, as it also did in Sept. Obviously, baseball shouldn?t be considered the only reason for those discrepancies, and TBS? doubling or even tripling of its usual prime viewership due to the sport should not be discounted. And this presentation assumes a lack of baseball viewership growth among the under-18 set, an arguable assumption. So just take it as food for thought, nothing more.??? ??