Demography explains the rest. Many states have lots of old white people and lots of young minorities. But Arizona stands out: William Frey at the Brookings Institution puts its “cultural generation gap”—the white share of the over-65 population minus the white share of under-18s—at 41%, higher than any other state (see chart). Many retirees adore Joe Arpaio, the immigrant-baiting sheriff of Maricopa County (greater Phoenix, roughly).
Half of Fox News’ Viewers Are 68 and Older
But, fundamentally, Fox News is at a tremendous advantage on its turf because it’s selling a conservative political product to an older audience, which tends to be more politically conservative, anyway.
.. But maybe Fox’s secret sauce isn’t TV. It’s demographics.
Fox Viewers May Be Graying, but Their Passion Still Pays
In cable, the ages range from as young as 28.9 for Comedy Central, to 39.2 for another Fox sister network, FX, 43.6 for ESPN, and 52.9 for USA.
.. Mr. Moffett said the most successful brands always had to be aware of reinventing themselves for the next generation. He cited the example of Cadillac.
“It was amazing,” Mr. Moffett said. “You could see the average Cadillac buyer was getting one year older every year. It didn’t take a lot of math skills to realize if nothing changed, one day the last Cadillac buyer was going to walk into the showroom and then drop dead on the way out.”