History Main / FleetingDemographic

* Creator/FawcettComics was quite eager to turn [[Franchise/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] readers into ''Mechanix Illustrated'' readers, the logic being that boys (and they saw their audience in The 40s as mostly male) would only read comics for a few years but would read a science/technology/DIY/car magazine for life. The result was that MI often ran house ads in Fawcett's comics and there was even a 6-page "Mechanix Illustrated Adventure" where Billy Batson met a kid who'd built a number of gadgets from plans found in MI.

* Male teenage pop stars and boy bands have a similar problem: Music/TheJonasBrothers were a big teen phenomenon, but their popularity suddenly tanked in 2009 as people started to get tired of Disney shoving them down their throats. This void was filled by Music/JustinBieber, who became an even bigger phenomenon. Unfortunately, as fast as his fanbase was growing, his hatedom was growing even faster. This turned Bieber into the media's punching bag. Bieber's massive HypeBacklash in turn brought Music/OneDirection into the spotlight. The boy band quickly knocked Bieber off of his throne, and once his bad behavior came into play, Bieber fever was over. Justin Bieber had his revenge in 2015, when [[CareerResurrection his comeback album "Purpose"]] prevented One Direction from debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200.

* Much of the longevity of the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime can be attributed to the target demographic cycling through about every five years, so the fact that the same general plot is used every generation only serves to annoy some [[PeripheryDemographic older fans]] (mostly outside Japan) and no one else. This was taken to its utter extreme in ''Anime/PokemonGenesectAndTheLegendAwakened'', where the legendary Pokémon Mewtwo was featured. Although the series had a pre-established and unique Mewtwo character, this movie chose to introduce a brand-new Mewtwo and have no connection to the original, presumably to make things easier for the young children of the day to understand. [[{{Irony}} Yet they brought back Ash's Charizard from the same era anyway.]]

* One of the reasons Creator/{{MTV}} has maintained its popularity over time is that it elected not to follow its original audience (the teenagers of the 80's) into adulthood, instead opting to always focus its marketing on the current generation of teens. ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' lampshaded this by having a quick reference to ''Film/LogansRun'' that involved microchip-implanted [=VJs=] that alerted the execs to send in a new show host whenever the current one [[ChristmasCake turns 25]].

* This is why a lot of the "classic TV" channels like Nick at Nite and TV Land eventually started including shows from the 90's and even some original content. Their initial target demographic, people who grew up watching TV in the black-and-white and early color years, have been dying of old age. It doesn't get more "fleeting" than that.

* This is why a lot of the "classic TV" stations (such as TV Land) eventually started airing more modern sitcoms and syndicated dramas. Their target demographic (namely, people who grew up watching old TV shows like ''Series/GilligansIsland'', ''Series/TheBradyBunch'', ''Series/ILoveLucy'', etc.) were getting older and ultimately passing away. It doesn't get more "fleeting" than that.

Often a consequence of the work being a UnintentionalPeriodPiece. Contrast GrowingWithTheAudience, when the series/franchise matures as its audience matures. If the franchise tries to appeal to a current generation and fails somehow, that's WereStillRelevantDammit

* This is why a lot of the "classic TV" stations (such as TV Land) eventually started airing more modern sitcoms and syndicated dramas. Their target demographic (namely, people who grew up watching old TV shows like ''Series/GilligansIsland'', ''Series/TheBradyBunch'', ''Series/ILoveLucy'', etc.) were getting older and ultimately passing away.

* Music/HipHop music, possibly more than any other genre except teen pop, is heavily tied to the decade of its release. It's not that fans grow ''out'' of the genre, it's that they tend to prefer the rap styles of their generation over anything that comes later.

* Music/{{Rap}} music, possibly more than any other genre except teen pop, is heavily tied to the decade of its release. It's not that fans grow ''out'' of the genre, it's that they tend to prefer the music of their generation over anything that comes later.

* This is why a lot of the "classic TV" stations (such as TV Land) eventually started airing more modern sitcoms and syndicated dramas; their target demographic (namely, people who grew up watching old TV shows like ''Series/GilligansIsland'', ''Series/TheBradyBunch'', ''Series/ILoveLucy'', etc.) were getting older and thus (at least in theory) less profitable.

* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'': Although the show does have its older fans, the general demographic is young boys who will grow out of the show after a few years, which is probably why the show started doing the new storyline every year thing instead of the continuing storyline it used to do. Since this is exactly what happens in the Japanese counterpart, ''Franchise/SuperSentai'', no one seems to mind.

* One of the reasons Creator/{{MTV}} has maintained its popularity over time is that it elected not to follow its original audience (the teenagers of the eighties and early nineties) into adulthood, instead opting to always focus its marketing on the current generation of teenagers. (Whether its ''[[NetworkDecay quality]]'' has also been maintained is a matter best left for debate elsewhere.) ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' lampshaded this by having a quick reference to ''Film/LogansRun'' that involved microchip-implanted [=VJs=] that alerted the execs to send in a new show host whenever the original person became a ChristmasCake.

If fans of the show start hating it later and claim that the show was better in their time and now it sucks even though it still pleases the target audience, then it's a clear case of PeripheryHatedom.

* ''Series/BarneyAndFriends'', ''Series/{{Teletubbies}}'' and most other "preschool"-oriented shows. While earlier examples like ''Series/SesameStreet'' had enough ParentalBonus to benefit from the NostalgiaFilter, the success of ''Barney'' led to a trend in the '90s of making these shows as plotless and repetitive as possible, out of the belief that that made them more suitable for the target audience. Now that those original toddler "fans" are teens and young adults, they want as little to do with these shows as their parents and older siblings did.

* This is why a lot of the "classic TV" stations (such as TV Land) eventually started airing more modern sitcoms and syndicated dramas; their target demographic (namely, people who grew up watching old TV shows like ''Series/GilligansIsland'', ''Series/TheBradyBunch'', ''Series/ILoveLucy'', etc.) were getting older and thus (at least in theory) less profitable. See the section on "oldies radio" below.

* German TV Station [=Sat1=] attempted to invoke PeripheryDemographic with ''WesternAnimation/ExtremeGhostbusters'' with the slogan "The Ghostbusters are back", and the time slot of just before prime time on weekdays (7pm, with prime time starting at 20:15 in Germany). Unfortunately, ''Extreme Ghostbusters''' style clashed with ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'', and the only opportunity where they could have opted for consistency - using the old voice actors for the returning characters - was passed either out of laziness or because the voice actors in question were too high-priced by now. This led to old fans to dismiss the show, which was quickly shoved into a Saturday morning cartoon slot.

* ''Comicbook/{{Superman}}'' comics in the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks 1950s and 1960s]] used to [[RecycledScript repeat the same plots]] [[FleetingDemographicRule every three to five years]], since that was the average length of time a child would read comics. The introductions of Mon-El and Star Boy in the ComicBook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}} are well-known for outright copying earlier stories, to the point where the story that became the Mon-El story was most likely reprinted in the ''Superman in the 50's'' book specifically because this made it famous.

* This is why a lot of the "classic TV" stations (such as Network/TVLand) eventually started airing more modern sitcoms and syndicated dramas; their target demographic (namely, people who grew up watching old TV shows like ''Series/GilligansIsland'', ''Series/TheBradyBunch'', ''Series/ILoveLucy'', etc.) were getting older and thus (at least in theory) less profitable. See the section on "oldies radio" below.