Why was CBS called "the old people's network"....

[roygerdodger]

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[shotzette]

Because their anchor shows, like "Murder, She Wrote" were geared to an older demographic.

[gidgetgrape]

Originally Posted by shotzette

Because their anchor shows, like "Murder, She Wrote" were geared to an older demographic.

Yeah, their programming was very geriatric. They were good shows, but they were mostly safe and family oriented. Sometimes they would flirt with taboo subjects (Murphy Brown's baby for example), but they never crossed the line into vulgarity.

You know, I kind of miss it!

[dakert]

Magnum P.I., Newhart etc... etc...

[EmoJoe]

It still has the reputation of being the old people's network..and it still kind of is, in a way. Just look at shows like CSI: New York and Vegas, which had around 10 million viewers but almost all of them were 50+ (leading to their cancellation).

It does have some younger-skewing comedies now like How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory (although even those shows aren't as young-skewing as many comedies on other networks) but it's still the "oldest" of the networks, especially with dramas.

[TMC]

To make a general observation, CBS during the '80s and early '90s weren't really hitting the lucrative (from an advertising standpoint) 18-49 demographic w/ their biggest hits of the era like Murder She Wrote. The shows from this period were either w/ an older actor/senior citizen as the lead (like Murder She Wrote or Diagnosis Murder for example) or arguably otherwise boring shows like Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman or Touched by an Angel.

[TMC]

Growing up I kind of saw the major American broadcast networks like this:
*CBS was the network for the older generation (e.g. over 50 crowd).

*ABC was the network for families/kids because of TGIF (as well as domestic sitcoms like Home Improvement, Roseanne and Grace Under Fire) and their Disney connections.

*NBC was the network for the affluent, upper-middle class folks

*Fox (especially pre-the NFL) was the maverick, edgy and hip network.

*UPN was the urban (Fox was like that too in the early years w/ In Living Color Martin, Living Single and New York Undercover, but UPN took it even further) and sci-fi (mostly due to Star Trek) network.

*WB was the network for angsty, coming of age young adults (especially high schoolers). In a sense, it was what ABC Family could be considered today.

[EmoJoe]

Originally Posted by TMC

Growing up I kind of saw the major American broadcast networks like this:
*CBS was the network for the older generation (e.g. over 50 crowd).

*ABC was the network for families/kids because of TGIF (as well as domestic sitcoms like Home Improvement, Roseanne and Grace Under Fire) and their Disney connections.

*NBC was the network for the affluent, upper-middle class folks

*Fox (especially pre-the NFL) was the maverick, edgy and hip network.

*UPN was the urban (Fox was like that too in the early years w/ In Living Color Martin, Living Single and New York Undercover, but UPN took it even further) and sci-fi (mostly due to Star Trek) network.

*WB was the network for angsty, coming of age young adults (especially high schoolers). In a sense, it was what ABC Family could be considered today.

I would say today it's:

ABC - middle-aged women (Once Upon a Time, Grey's) and families (basically all of their comedies)

CBS - older generation (safe, formulaic procedurals/multi-camera comedies)

FOX - young, somewhat 'hip' vibe (the cartoons, New Girl, Glee) and also people who like watching people sing. the "edginess" moved to cable but the network still has a youthful vibe for sure

NBC - ???? (used to aim for the young urban professional vibe with their 'smart' comedies like The Office, 30 Rock ect but who knows anymore?)

CW - teenage girls (Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl) and genre fans (Arrow, Supernatural)

So...overall not much has changed, I don't think.

[biffbronson]

CBS was also still hanging on to older shows like 60 Minutes, Face the Nation, The Price is Right, Guiding Light, and As the World Turns, while it seemed that overall NBC and ABC had more turnover.

[catlover79]

Yes...Murder, She Wrote, Diagnosis Murder, and especially 60 Minutes (and the other CBS news anchors in general: Cronkite, Rather, Schieffer, Kuralt, etc.) cemented the network's reputation as the old people's network. Plus, those shows went on forever, and 60 Minutes still is!!!

[megamanj2004]

even some of the lesser-known sitcoms during this period were geared to the middle-aged crowd such as Evening Shade (w/ Burt Reynolds who was about to begin entering the beginning stages of sporting his salt and pepper toupees) and Major Dad (w/ Gerald McRaney).

And other dramas such as In the Heat of the Night (when it moved to CBS from NBC in the fall of '92).

Same probably could be said for Unsolved Mysteries as well (when that show moved to CBS from NBC later on).

[Tubehead]

i didn't know they were called thee old people network i enjoyed watching martial law and early ediiton couple years ago they weren't for older people

[UMFaninMD]

Call me an old fart but I loved watching Murder, She Wrote, Diagnosis Murder, Murphy Brown and Evening Shade with my grandparents. Those were not-miss shows for us back then. I can't relate to most of the stuff they show on any network now.

[biffbronson]

Oh yeah, I enjoyed many of those same shows as well. I had quite a crush on Faith Ford when she appeared on Murphy Brown. In fact, I never really considered those to be older viewers' shows per se, except I knew that a lot of seniors were Angela Lansbury fans.

[mets82]

I also think they were called "old people's network" because they were not hip because they lost there sports. Remember, when the NFL left CBS that was a huge blow. Also, the NBA left CBS in the early 90s as well.