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COPYRIGHT 2002 All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of The Condé Nast Publications Inc.
When ABC pursued David Letterman recently as a potential replacement for Ted Koppel in the "Nightline" slot, the rationale was straightforward. Letterman's show, although less popular than Koppel's, has better -- that is, younger -- demographics, so it can charge more for advertising. This is the unquestioned and untested premise of the whole TV-ad business: younger viewers are more valuable, so companies must pay more to reach them. A mere four million people watch "Dawson's Creek," but because they're young the WB network can charge about a hundred thousand dollars for a thirty-second ad; "60 Minutes" has fifteen million viewers, but they're older, so, despite their number, CBS can charge only a few thousand dollars more. To an advertiser, a twenty-five-year-old clerk is apparently worth three times as much as the fifty-year-old vice-president he works for.
Advertisers pay more to reach...
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