Time was you were what you watched.
People in their 20s watched the CW and folks in their 50s preferred CBS.
No more.
A new study by the ad agency research firm Magna Global finds that the age differences among networks are now practically meaningless.
Ten years ago, the audiences of the five broadcast networks were very different from each other, the study says.
The median age — the age at which half the audience is older and half younger — for the now defunct WB was under 30. For CBS, the age in 2000 was in the low 50s.
Fox, in those days, was in the mid-30s with shows like “Malcolm in the Middle” and “Party of Five.”
Today, the median age of viewers of all networks except the CW is over 45.
Not surprisingly, young people are more likely to go online or rely on the DVR to watch their favorite shows, the report notes.
But, the report says, two other developments might be more significant.
* The networks are trying harder to appeal to the widest audience possible — the best tactic to beat the specialized cable networks that have steadily been taking away audiences over the last decade.
Shows like “House” (median age: 42) and “30 Rock” (median age: 39) have attracted a wider age range of viewers in ways that “South Park” (median age: 25), for example, can not.
* No new big hits in recent years means audiences are getting older every year.
New hits equal younger audiences (first season of “Glee,” median age: 32).
Old hits equal old audiences (7-year-old “CSI,” median age: 56).
Eight of the top 10 shows last season have been on the air more than seven years, the report points out.
Aside from news shows, the oldest median age show on TV is CBS’s freshman drama, “The Good Wife” (58), about a disgraced politician’s wife.
The youngest-audience series on the Big Four networks is the rude-and-crude “Family Guy” (30).
Oddly, the people most likely to watch TV online or on DVRs are not teens.
The biggest concentration of online and DVR viewers are 25 to 34 years old, the report says. (Presumably, they are too busy with work and young families to watch TV in real time.)
This phenomenon made for some head-scratching stats, the research firm found.
While the online/DVR audience for most networks is 10 years younger than their traditional TV audiences, MTV’s online/DVR audience is actually older than those who watch live.