‘Kidults’ Asked to ‘Switch Off Brains’

A new TV channel broadcasting cartoons will be launched in St. Petersburg on Sunday aiming to cater to a growing category of viewers known as “kidults” — adults that refuse to grow-up — the channel’s owner said on Thursday.
Prof-Media also announced that the channel, known as 2×2, will broadcast locally on the Rambler TV frequency.
The Simpsons, Beavis & Butthead, South Park, Russian animation classics and Japanese anime are all expected to be part of the new 24-hour channel, which aims to attract “the mature Pepsi Generation.”
In their mid-30s, this generation listens to iPods, plays Sony PlayStations, reads Harry Potter — and 2×2 hopes to tap into its entertainment tastes.
“We cater for young viewers, where ‘young’ has nothing to do with age, it’s rather a lifestyle attitude,” …

Jugend als Lifestyle-Attitüde .. da hat die St. Petersburg Times den Titel schon richtig gewählt

der Artikel macht es deutlich: Qualitätsverfall des Programms ist der Nährboden für Debilität
Vashko thinks the new channel has also got the potential to become a so-called “background” channel.

“As I have experience in analyzing TV ratings, I can assure you that background TV constitutes a large part of all TV-watching,” she said.

Podushko agreed. According to the Workline’s data, the number of “active viewers” is constantly falling in Russia in general.

“At present, the number of those who watch television ‘with one eye’ amounts to 60 percent, whereas in 2002-2003 such viewers made up only 40 percent,” Podushko said.