The Streaming Revolution No One Talks About: Viewers Are Getting Older

The notable thing about The Boroughs — other than Netflix’s quick decision to cancel the series — was the composition of its audience. The show, about a group of retirees stalked by something supernatural in their 55-plus community, drew about 4.05 billion minutes of watch time in the United States in its first four weeks, according to Nielsen’s streaming ratings — with a large portion of that coming from people over the age of 50. In The Boroughs‘ premiere week, people over 50 accounted for 57 percent of the show’s 1.2 billion viewing minutes. The percentage of younger viewers ticked up in subsequent weeks, the greatest concentration of viewers remained in the demographic similar to that of the on-screen characters, played by (among others) Alfred Molina, Geena Davis, Alfre Woodard, Clark