WARC: Baby Boomers Will Spend Majority Of 2024 Media Time Online.

A new report reveals that older generations are switching from offline versions of content media to their online extensions. Baby Boomers are forecast to spend more than half of their media time with online media in 2024, according to WARC. This provides an opportunity for audio creators.

The report says Baby Boomers’ media preferences are “quickly evolving” as the population is forecast to spend more than half (54.4%) of their media time with online media in 2024. That’s up from 47% in 2020.

For this age group — defined for this report as adults born between 1946 and 1964 — WARC says much of that shift comes as people are embracing new formats. That means augmenting their broadcast radio time with online audio listening, with similar moves between traditional broadcast television and connected TV, and print newspapers and online news sites.

Boomers have embraced digital audio the fastest. WARC says consumption has grown 2.5 times since 2019. In comparison, online video consumption has increased by 1.5% during the same period. At the same time, its analysis of the global market shows small dips in traditional consumption of linear TV and broadcast radio as people shift more of their viewing and listening online.

“Boomers are embracing digital content,” says Alex Brownsell, Head of Content at WARC Media. “While brands obsess over Gen Z, the affluent Baby Boomer generation is undergoing a media revolution. This requires advertisers to revisit long-held assumptions and ensure digital media plans are tailored to older consumers’ increasingly unique habits.”

WARC compared media consumption behavior among 45- to 54-year-olds a decade ago with today’s 55-64s — representing those born between 1959 and 1970. In 2013, less than a third (31.6%) of all media time was spent with digital channels. However, during the past decade, that share has grown by more than 20 points to 53% in 2023. WARC says that shift was propelled largely by behavior changes brought on by COVID.

Paul Bland, Chief Digital Officer, Havas Media Network, says it is already altering how advertising dollars are spent. “Media planners must ditch their habit of seeing Baby Boomers as living in a kind of media status,” he said. “If anything, older people are probably rising the most in terms of consumption of some of the most innovative digital properties around. It’s genuinely impacting the way we buy media as an agency.”

Despite the growing focus on digital media, Boomers — who are aged 60 to 78 today — are not spending a lot of time on social media platforms. WARC says social media remains a small part of their overall media habits.

By next year, 55-64-year-olds in the U.S. are forecast to spend 93 daily average minutes with social media, per GWI, up 43.1% from the 65 minutes of consumption recorded among 45-54s in 2015. However, other areas of digital consumption are growing much faster. For instance, online TV streaming is up 195% over the same period, with Baby Boomers switching to Netflix and YouTube on their TV screens.

Facebook continues to be older consumers’ preferred network. According to YouGov, Baby Boomers make up the largest chunk (29%) of weekly Facebook users in the U.S., compared to only 9% of those accessing TikTok each week.

WARC’s “Baby Boomers’ Big Digital Shift” report also points out that Boomers have the lowest average levels of ad receptivity in a cross-generation comparison. Only 12% globally say that they feel “positive” about advertising. That is significantly below the 47% benchmark for all consumers worldwide.

“Baby Boomers are generally just more negative about ads compared to the other generations we measured,” says Gonca Bubani, Global Thought Leadership Director at Kantar. “As advertising receptivity goes up for everyone, they are on the lower end, and they remain there.”

Yet only 4.5% of Baby Boomers have downgraded from a subscription video service to an advertising tier on services like Netflix and Disney+, according to GWI. Instead, Gen Z is far more likely to opt for a cheap plan with ads with more than a quarter (28.4%) of respondents saying they made the switch.

WARC says increasing advertising loads on TV have frustrated older audiences, but they appear more positive about newer social and video platforms, with TikTok ranked as their preferred option. It says that may be a result of having joined the app more recently and not experiencing it in its earlier, ad-lighter days.