Sesame Streets current target audience question

[mupcollector1]

I don't remember if I've asked this before, but has the target audience changed to a more younger audience? And if so, when did this change take effect and why? I've heard somewhere that the target audience changed to a more younger audience when Elmo was getting popular.

 

[Oscarfan]

Elmo was getting pretty popular with that crowd and in general, children's TV audiences got younger, with hits like Barney and the like.

From what I understand, the new block format was a way of bringing back some older viewers (over the age of 3) and it apparently worked. And Elmo the Musical was added to help etch out the below 3 crowd; not because they didn't want their viewership, but the curriculum for the whole show isn't designed for kids their age.

 

[D'Snowth]

Don't forget, part of it too was SST pretty much set the bar for educational television - they did such a good job at helping kids 4-6 prepare for school with just the basics (letters, numbers, reading, math, and such), that after a while, many kids were already familiar with those concepts by the time they reached those ages, which is one reason why they started to shift their target audience even younger to further help the kids in the 2-4 bracket.

 

[Drtooth]

I'm absolutely glad that's the case. Sesame should NEVER have been in the 0-3 zone. They aren't going to get anything out of it, and lazy parents plop their kids down in front of it instead of sharing the experience. What's the point of parental bonus if parents don't bother watching with their kids? Not to mention their deeper scientific goals will go over the heads of anyone less than 4 years old anyway (seriously, SW... bring back 321 Contact).

I can't even just blame Elmo's World for the shift in demographic. The whole shift starting with Barney the Dinosaur skewed preschool programs to prepreschool programs. Especially Teletubbies, which was marketed for babies. And babies do just as well with a strobelight and a CD of cartoon sound effects as they do with television. Remember the deceptive claims of things like Baby Einstein and Your Baby Can Read? Anyone under 3 will not even have an imprint of what they watched back then.

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

I'm the camp of the opinion that children under 3 shouldn't even be watching television, but I digress. The shift for television for much younger children that, just for reference purpose, I will pinpoint to Barney starting resulted in Sesame's shift from what it stuck to for so long. That and the bar being raised education-wise is a key factor as well.

 

[Drtooth]

I'm no fan of the misconception that babies need TV. I mean, there are at least 2 cable channels to cater to babies, and Sprout clings onto the old "midnight feedings" myth to rationalize toddler friendly programming at midnight. I mean, really.. be cool. Qubo has He-Man and stuff at that hour. Perfect place for some classic Electric Company/Reading Rainbow/Sesame Street stuff.

But for some reason or another, there was a huge downward spiral towards that demographic in the 90's. While Barney started it (maybe moving things down by a year), it was Teletubbies that really turned preschool programming into prenatal programing. But then again, Sesame Street does have itself to blame as well. Baby products featuring Sesame Street characters cemented the Sesame Street is for Babies myth.

As I always say, there was a long period on Amazon where parents complained that their way too old to care year old wouldn't sit through this video or be quiet to that CD... facepalm worthy comments that think Sesame Street was made just to shut 1 year olds up for 30 minutes. No wonder they had to put a lengthy, head up its own butt disclaimer on Old School 1 and 2. Some dumb parent's going to spend 30 bucks on one of them and whine that it didn't keep little Sidney, age 14 months, from running around the house and out the door. Trying to keep a kid that just learned how to not sit in one place? You know that's impossible.

 

[D'Snowth]

And this, ladies and gentlemen, illustrates Nostalgia Critic's point that childbirth is bad.

 

[mupcollector1]

I agree, it's interesting because comparing Barney today there's so many kids shows that are aimed towards younger audiences both educational and non-educational. Very different from some of the stuff from the 1990s. I still remember educational shows like Mr. Wizard, Bill Eye The Science Guy, Beakman's World, Where in the World is Carman San Diego, etc

Anyway looking back on the classic Sesame Street episodes, they were branching out with a lot of subject topics, especially in a comical way for example The Two Headed Monster driving into a brick wall demonstrating Seat Belts. I personally find this funny but perhaps today it wouldn't seem as innocent like it was back then.

 

[mupcollector1]

whine that it didn't keep little Sidney, age 14 months, from running around the house and out the door. Trying to keep a kid that just learned how to not sit in one place? You know that's impossible.

I agree that it seems like television is being used as the parent. And there's stuff on TV that's not very beneficial for adults. All I can say is that Dinosaurs truly satirized that with Captain Action Figure. "Not advertising, children's programming."

 

[mupcollector1]

And this, ladies and gentlemen, illustrates Nostalgia Critic's point that childbirth is bad.

I personally like The Angry Video Game Nerd much better.