Happy Friday War & Peaceniks… Let’s Globetrot!
Two of the most central drivers of change in Media over the next decade will be the combination of generational shifts in the global population, and the relocation of the gravitation center of Media opportunity from North America, around the rest of the globe. For many reasons, these two are intrinsically tied.
First, let’s look at the generational shifts pushing change through our ecosystem (shown above in a little movie featuring the music of REM!)...
63% of the world’s population is now under 40. One third is under 20. If you’re over 40 you’re now in the minority (and for many of us, for the first time in our lives) - WELCOME!
In the US, the young to old balance is a bit less dramatic…
52% of Americans are under 40, one quarter are under 20. Millennials, Generation Z and Generation A are now the majority of all humans on earth, and of all citizens in the US. When you consider the math, the idea that only people over 40 or even 30 should be making all your business decisions, when the majority of your consumers (and your workforce) are not, is just silly.
When you look at Europe however, the balance tilts the other way…
Europe is, in a word, OLD. Just 46% of the population is under 40, with more than one quarter over 60. This (along with other key factors) helps explain Europe’s slower migration to streaming compared to the US.
Europeans collectively use a bit more traditional linear TV and far less streaming than Americans. A continuing legacy of free Public Service Broadcasting in Europe, and a population that is much older than the rest of the world, creates an ecosystem disconnected to much of the planet's Media consumption.
If you watch global news, it seems, at times, at least to me, that Americans and Europeans feel somewhat out of touch with the rest of the world. Cultural differences are clearly at the heart of this global disconnect. But, increasingly, the chasm is also explained by the enormous demographic distance between the regions…
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