An Attentional study of free-to-air TV channels covering the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden, has revealed that while TV audiences are growing, they are also getting older - however some genres, notably U.S. feature films are retaining younger viewers. The majority (79%) of 29 channels covered in the study attracted younger primetime audiences (more 16-34s) with U.S. feature films than their benchmark station averages in 2008.

Commenting on the findings, Attentional’s Dr. Farid El-Husseini, Head of Consultancy, said: “The appeal of U.S. films to younger audiences is of particular interest as television audiences are rapidly ageing and younger viewers are increasingly diverted to other, new media alternatives. With fewer younger viewers watching free-to-air TV, the importance of US films in attracting and holding their attention cannot be underestimated especially as this group are a priority audience for advertisers.”

The study also showed that U.S. films play an important role in boosting the performance of the terrestrial spin-off channels in the UK. For the likes of Five U.S. and ITV2, U.S. features are the top-performing TV genre and regularly deliver audiences well in excess of the channel average.

The study also showed that leading U.S. features films generally have a long and valuable lifespan. The performance of Terminator 3 and Die Another Day were analysed over their broadcast history to date in the U.K. and Sweden respectively, and were shown to perform well above the channel average on each successive airing after their premiere broadcast. Pretty Woman is another example of a classic U.S. hit that continues to attract viewers. Despite being constantly repeated since the early 1990s, it was still the third highest rating US film on ITV2 in 2008, beaten only by the much more recently released Bourne Identity and Mummy Returns.

Also revealed from the study was the importance of the ‘franchise effect’. Looking at the Indiana Jones franchise, The Last Crusade was scheduled to coincide with the theatrical release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. On BBC1, The Last Crusade instantly became the channel’s top-performing film of the year with an audience of 7.5 million - well above the channel average - and outstripping the performance of the same film three years previously by 14%. A similar strategy and result was identified on ProSieben in Germany and Rai in Italy. Another example was The Da Vinci Code on Five in the UK in May 2009, within a few days of the UK theatrical release of Angels & Demons. It averaged just over 4 million viewers, making it one of Five’s top performing broadcasts of 2009, and the best film performance on the channel since 2006.