NickMom and the Rest of Us

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal focused on the cable network Nickelodeon’s research with mothers under 40 years of age — a quarter of whom watched Nickelodeon when they were kids themselves according to the report. 

Nickelodeon's research discovered that these women, with available TV viewing time after the kids have gone to bed (9 p.m. to 1 a.m.), are a captive audience and a very lucrative one to advertise to when the techno-day is done.

The result is NickMom, a newly proposed cable station with as much as thirty projects/original programs in development — created by and for these mommies.

No problem here, but I had to smile as I read the details – discovering that although still a mother with kids (although the younger one is right on their research cusp of 2-17 years old and he is 15) I am now officially pushed out of the demographic – since I can relate to this audience, but am no longer under 40 years old. 

Yes, I work during the day and act as breadwinner and caregiver, but I probably consume less media (including online content) then the women a decade younger. I probably fall somewhat behind (but not too much i hope, given my work) when it comes to the labels of “tech-savvy and tech-dependent.”

So although I personally do not miss the loss of Oprah on air, there is a seemingly identifiable void for Moms in TV Land (no pun intended) who want shows that are meaningful to them and profitable for advertising land too.

Ironically, I will admit that I’m clearly not with the mothers ages 18 to 49 (that infamous demographic) who rank Nick as the most-watched cable channel but that is understandable – that ranking is due to “co-viewing” in which parents watch TV with their kids. Our home is nostalgic about SpongeBob but we are watching a lot more TBS and Bravo than NickJr. That’s even though every so often I catch the kids watching some 100+ channel station (TeenNick?) and pining for the dancing lobsters of "The Amanda Show".

So when they explain findings from this research study that suggest:

• Home life tends to cause more stress than work life.
• Mothers struggle to be truly present and to live in the moment.
• Mothers see their roles inside and outside the home as fluid. (That is, they are always moms no matter where they are.) 

I can only stop and smile. I may not be as young as these women, but a few minutes of conversation with me and my tv consuming contemporaries and we could have told them this (despite our "advanced" age!) a lot sooner in a lot less time and for a lot less money.