History Main / AudienceShift

-->-- ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3K9R1rYrHbU Xeriouxly Forxe]]

* ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuth'' and its follow up ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuthHackersMemory'' targets the older fans of the ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' franchise, featuring a darker story, MsFanservice characters and a plot with implications and exploration that has received comparisons to the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' series, especially the newer ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' games, ''VideoGame/SoulHackers'' and ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'', with the game outright using ''Devil Survivor's'' lead designer and artstyle with one of its characters being a ShoutOut to the hero of ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2''. Appropriately enough, the two games are rated T for Teen under the ERSB.

* The 2003 ''WesternAnimation/{{Teen Titans|2003}}'' cartoon was aimed toward older kids (which was [[AnimationAgeGhetto already a downgrade of the original comics' demographics for older teens]], hence the name), yet still had ''some'' mature themes. The new incarnation, called ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'', is clearly aimed toward very young kids. Despite this, [[{{Irony}} the original is TV-Y7 while the reboot is TV-PG]].

* Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}} and Creator/{{DC|Comics}} superhero comics have a long history of this. Originally, they were meant for anyone, but then UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode happened, so they changed to make them more kid-friendly. Eventually, both sides got tired of obeying the comics code and began aiming the comics toward older and older audiences. Now the comics are mostly targeted at teens and adults.

* The range of the target audience to whom ''Series/SesameStreet'' is aimed towards--formerly 3 to 7--was bumped down with Elmo's rise in popularity after the Tickle Me Elmo craze in 1996, with two and three-year-old children now being included. Since then, there have been multiple attempts at making the show more accessible to toddlers, like ''Series/ElmosWorld'' and ''Series/PlayWithMeSesame''.

* UsefulNotes/McDonalds [[KidsMealToy Happy Meal]] toys are primarily aimed towards young kids. However, in October 2022, the company will introduce [[https://www.npr.org/2022/09/29/1125809528/mcdonalds-adult-happy-meals-october the first Happy Meal set aimed towards adults]], themed around the Cactus Flea Market fashion brand, which contains figures of three of the Advertising/McDonaldland characters (Grimace, Birdie and the Hamburglar) and a figure of the Cactus Flea Market mascot (Cactus Buddy). This is only a partial shift though, as this is treated as separate from the normal Happy Meal brand (not using the Happy Meal branding or name), which remains aimed at kids.

* The range of the target audience to whom ''Series/SesameStreet'' is aimed towards—formerly 4 to 6—was bumped down with Elmo's rise in popularity after the Tickle Me Elmo craze in 1996, with two and three-year-old children now being included. Since then, there have been multiple attempts at making the show more accessible to toddlers, like ''Series/ElmosWorld'' and ''Series/PlayWithMeSesame''.

* Music/LinkinPark evoked that with the change of their sound as well, shifting lyrical content from personal issues to political content, decreasing the amount of screaming, and not having as many guitars.

* ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuth'' and its follow up ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuthHackersMemory'' targets the older fans of the ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' franchise, featuring a darker story, MsFanservice characters and a plot with implications and exploration that has received comparisons to the ''Franchise/MegamiTensei'' series, especially the newer ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' games, ''VideoGame/SoulHackers'' and ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'', with the game outright using ''Devil Survivor's'' lead designer and artstyle with one of its characters being a ShoutOut to the hero of ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2''. Appropriately enough, the two games are rated T for Teen under the ERSB.

* Up until ''Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess2016'', all the [[Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaAkiraHimekawa Akira Himekawa]] manga adaptations were targeted at 11-12 year olds, but [[VideoGameTheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess the game]]'s unexpected T rating prevented them from publishing in the magazine (a 'school-year' magazine for 6th graders) they had planned for. They only got the chance to try again, this time with Ura Sunday, when the game's HD re-release came out ten years later. Since the fans most anticipating it were now in their late teens to early twenties, and ''Twilight Princess'' already had a reputation as the "darkest Zelda game," Himekawa opted to write it as a SwordAndSorcery series instead of a more kid-friendly HeroicFantasy.

* Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}} and Creator/{{DC|Comics}} superhero comics have a long history of this. Originally they were meant for anyone but then UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode happened so they changed to make them more kid-friendly. Eventually both sides got tired of obeying the comics code and began aiming the comics toward older and older audiences. Now the comics are mostly targeted at teens and adults.

** ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'' occasionally feature a story in which the characters are involved in dangerous or hostage situation, usually featuring a villain with some sort of firearm. At some point Archie Comics decided it needed to be more "kid friendly" and edited out said guns when stories are reprinted. The results were usually odd; Archie and friends would be extremely intimidated by people who were simply pointing at them and unarmed people are depicted walking or running as if they were holding an invisible rifle. In addition, there were a few rare comics that seemingly have stopped being reprinted presumably due to subject matter. One involved Betty and Veronica discussing about Archie (and explicitly calling him "sexy"). An early comic of Cheryl Blossom featured her attempting to go topless at a beach, while her brother disguised a beer can as a soda can. The second comic can be found in a "Best of Archie Comics" release, but otherwise neither of them have been reprinted in over a decade (despite the company's tendency to frequently reprint comics from well over 20 years ago).
** In the 2010s Archie began expanding their horizon with more DarkerAndEdgier spinoffs such as ''ComicBook/AfterlifeWithArchie'' or ''ComicBook/ArchieVsPredator''. This is turn caused the ContinuityReboot ''ComicBook/ArchieComics2015'' to be aimed at slightly older audiences than their original demographic, though they're still pretty family friendly.

* Creator/{{Toonami}} originally aired during the daytime on Creator/CartoonNetwork with programs aimed at a pre-teen and teen audience. When it was UnCanceled, it received a new placement after the {{watershed}} on Creator/AdultSwim, a change signified with the early slogan "[=Toonami=] is Back [[GratuitousFStrike Bitches]]". In a odd twist, though, at least half of what the midnight block airs is still content that would be suitable for a young audience on Cartoon Network (albeit with slight editing to remove or tone down blood, lewd situations, and cursing), if not for the fact that action/adventure animation has largely been phased out in favor of comedy series on children's television networks during TheNewTens (with the exception, ironically, of Disney, which still airs Marvel and Star Wars cartoons).

* Creator/{{Toonami}} originally aired during the daytime on Creator/CartoonNetwork with programs aimed at a pre-teen and teen audience. When it was UnCanceled, it received a new placement after the {{watershed}} on Creator/AdultSwim, a change signified with the early slogan "[=Toonami=] is Back [[GratitiousFStrike Bitches]]". In a odd twist, though, at least half of what the midnight block airs is still content that would be suitable for a young audience on Cartoon Network (albeit with slight editing to remove or tone down blood, lewd situations, and cursing), if not for the fact that action/adventure animation has largely been phased out in favor of comedy series on children's television networks during TheNewTens (with the exception, ironically, of Disney, which still airs Marvel and Star Wars cartoons).

* Creator/{{Toonami}} originally aired during the daytime on Creator/CartoonNetwork with programs aimed at a pre-teen and teen audience. When it was UnCanceled, it received a new placement after the {{watershed}} on Creator/AdultSwim. In a odd twist, though, at least half of what the midnight block airs is still content that would be suitable for a young audience on Cartoon Network (albeit with slight editing to remove or tone down blood, lewd situations, and cursing), if not for the fact that action/adventure animation has largely been phased out in favor of comedy series on children's television networks during TheNewTens (with the exception, ironically, of Disney, which still airs Marvel and Star Wars cartoons).

* ''[[Wrestling/WWERAw Raw]]'' is basically a three-hour variety show, or a commercial for a national tourist board. Everyone's goofy and having fun, smiling and laughing, making jokes, nobody is being serious about the fact that they're supposedly fighters trying to settle feuds and obtain championship belts. This is amplified by the commentary team consisting of three salesmen constantly trying to pitch you something (which isn't even being presented at the moment). ''Come to the WWE... We have entertainments.''

* Spurred on by the more athletic product being delivered by Wrestling/{{WCW}} at the time, the New Generation Era morphed into the Wrestling/AttitudeEra around 1998. [[DarkerAndEdgier No longer making any pretense]] of being child friendly, the Attitude Era was aimed squarely at the rich in disposable income 18-to-25 demographic, with a heavy emphasis on in-ring violence, sex appeal, and more adult storylines. After WCW collapsed and WWE was left standing on top of the heap, the need for the Attitude Era had passed. The avid teen viewership was starting to grow up and move on and, thanks largely to its edgy product, younger viewers had been discouraged from watching. Starting in late 2002, the second major retool began with the rise of stars like Wrestling/JohnCena and Wrestling/RandyOrton, largely discouraging blatant swearing and over-the-top hardcore violence on the weekly shows and toning down the amount of female FanService. The result is a much more family-friendly, if not as revolutionary product, albeit one that acknowledges a more "educated" wrestling audience by not insulting their intelligence. As much.

* ''Manga/OsomatsuKun'' was family friendly. ''Anime/OsomatsuSan'' takes place ten years afterwards and portrays the characters as much more flawed, and adult, than before. The troublesome sextuplets grew up to be {{NEET}}s, and much of the humor stems from watching them either try to make something out of their lives or avoid the responsibility for as long as possible. Then oddly, there's the spinoff ''Matsuinu'', which features the ''San'' versions of the characters as dogs, but the anime version at least is aimed at preschoolers.

* ''Manga/OsomatsuKun'' was family friendly. ''Anime/OsomatsuSan'' takes place ten years afterwards and portrays the characters as much more flawed, and adult, than before. The troublesome sextuplets grew up to be {{NEET}}s, and much of the humor stems from watching them either try to make something out of their lives or avoid the responsibility for as long as possible. Then oddly, there's the spinoff ''Matsuinu'', which features the ''San'' versions of the characters as dogs, but it's aimed at preschoolers.

* ''Manga/OsomatsuKun'' was family friendly. ''Anime/OsomatsuSan'' takes place ten years afterwards and portrays the characters as much more flawed, and adult, than before. The troublesome sextuplets grew up to be {{NEET}}s, and much of the humor stems from watching them either try to make something out of their lives or avoid the responsibility for as long as possible. Then oddly, there's Matsuinu, which has the ''San'' versions of the characters as dogs, but it's aimed at preschoolers.

* ''Manga/OsomatsuKun'' was family friendly. ''Anime/OsomatsuSan'' takes place ten years afterwards and portrays the characters as much more flawed, and adult, than before. The troublesome sextuplets grew up to be {{NEET}}s, and much of the humor stems from watching them either try to make something out of their lives or avoid the responsibility for as long as possible.

* ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuth'' and its follow up ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuthHackersMemory'' targets the older fans of the ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' franchise, featuring a darker story, MsFanservice characters and a plot with implications and exploration that has received comparisons to the ''Franchise/MegamiTensei'' series, especially the newer ''VideoGame/{{Persona}}'' games, ''VideoGame/SoulHackers'' and ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'', with the game outright using ''Devil Survivor's'' lead designer and artstyle with one of its characters being a ShoutOut to the hero of ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2''. Appropriately enough, the two games are rated T for Teen under the ERSB.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' continuation comic and its spin-off, ''ComicBook/BadGuys'', have a much more adult bent to them, with things like stabbing (with blood!), suicides, and even more complex characterization than the TV series had.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI'' is the first game to made with Western adult audiences in mind, given that it is the first mainline M-rated title in the series, the ''Series/GameOfThrones'' influence in the plot and world design, and that while the voice script was written in Japanese first, it was recorded in English first, with the localization changes made to the English script translated back into Japanese, then recorded in Japanese.