"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" might be the greatest thing that's ever happened to ABC. Then again, depending on whom you listen to, it might not.
The show is still a hit in the household ratings and in overall viewers, but its viewers are skewing increasingly old. And this at the network that has loudly extolled the virtues of young (18-49) demographics for years.
As of last month, the average age of viewers for the four weekly editions of "Millionaire" was just shy of 55. The average age of viewers for the Thursday edition was 55.6 — the second-oldest skewing show on TV, trailing only "Diagnosis Murder" (at 57.2). And, while no one argues that it's fair, advertisers don't ante up for shows that attract older viewers.
It's a trend that one critic observed has taken ABC's overall audience makeup "a little more toward Forest Lawn than you might like." Indeed, during the fourth quarter of 2000, the median age of ABC's viewers made an astonishing jump — from 41.7 to 46.1, a jump so large and so quick it's unprecedented in TV history.
The show is no longer invincible — it's finishing third in its Thursday time slot, behind CBS's "CSI" and NBC's sitcoms. It sometimes loses to "Dateline" on Friday nights.
Comparing the past two February sweeps, ABC went from first place in total viewers in 2000 to third place in 2001 — a decline largely attributable to the fact that "Millionaire" lost in the neighborhood of a million viewers per episode.
But ABC executives profess to be unconcerned and say they don't see a problem.
"I think that it's clear that 'Millionaire's' audience has gotten older . . . but it's also delivering great 18-49 numbers," said ABC Entertainment co-chairman Stu Bloomberg. "So we are more than thrilled to have it."
Indeed, ABC's fourth-quarter numbers among viewers 18-34 dipped only slightly, and its 18-49 ratings held steady.
The fact is that because the show, hosted by Regis Philbin, is relatively cheap to produce (when compared to sitcoms, dramas and newsmagazines), ABC is still raking in the dough on "Millionaire." The real problem would be if this trend continues — and its been a startling turnaround in less than a year, with the show's average audience aging by more than eight years.
Still, Bloomberg tried to put the best spin possible on a troubling trend. He even referred to a "reinvigorated 'Millionaire,' " pointing to the fact that the show's overall audience is larger now than it was last fall. What he didn't say is that the show is still down sharply from a year ago at this time — nearly one-fifth of the "Millionaire" audience has deserted the show.
What he did say is that viewers can expect to see even more "Millionaire" stunts along the lines of the celebrity, Olympic, tax-free and college editions.
"We recognize the value of stunting and with fresh ideas. . . . We've really seen a spike in the ratings," Bloomberg said.
Still, questions continue to dog ABC about whether its reliance — some would say over-reliance — on "Millionaire" and other unscripted shows (like "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" and "The Mole") will be detrimental to the network's future health. Critics are quick to point out that ABC currently has only 10 scripted series on its schedule, which also includes movie nights and newsmagazines.
(By comparison, the WB has 16 scripted series — and that's on a network that programs 13 hours of prime time to ABC's 22 hours.)
Again, however, ABC executives shrug off that criticism.
"I think the health of the network is a function of having a compelling and interesting schedule that also is profitable for the company and creates an environment where we can thrive for years going forward," said ABC Entertainment co-chairman Lloyd Braun said. "And I think we have a very strong mix of that right now.
"So we don't feel that we are a reality-based network in any way, shape or form. And the mix of reality to scripted programming is fluid and will, I think, adjust year to year on what shows we feel the most passionate about and what's working and what isn't working. And so we feel very comfortable with the mix that we have and the mix we're going to have going forward."
Braun reiterated his belief that "Millionaire" could "function as an accordion" for the network — perhaps expanding beyond four nights a week under certain circumstances; perhaps contracting to two or three nights a week, depending on its performance and on what new shows the network develops. And he and his partner are almost militantly upbeat about "Millionaire."
"In the history of television, there's never been an entertainment series that's been on four nights of the week and all of those episodes are in the top 10 in viewers," Bloomberg said. "And I think it's a great show day in and day out."
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com