A couple of weeks ago, as the network fall television season got underway, ABC began airing “The Golden Bachelor,” a spinoff of “The Bachelor” that centers on an offbeat twist: The competition centers on a 72-year-old man, and the 22 women vying for his affection range in age from 60 to 75.

On Sunday nights, the network will carve out three hours for “The Wonderful World of Disney,” a television tradition that dates to the 1950s. On Tuesdays, there’s “Dancing With the Stars.”

It’s no secret that network television ratings have plummeted in recent years as viewers have fled prime-time lineups in favor of stream-at-your-leisure outlets such as Netflix and Hulu.

But there’s one notable exception, a segment of the audience that has effectively become the broadcast networks’ core constituency: people older than 60.

The median age of viewers at ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox has jumped in recent years. That has left executives looking for ways to acknowledge and nurture an audience that still reliably flips on the television and watches in prime time, the old-fashioned way.

“Boomers are keeping it afloat,” Kevin Reilly, a veteran programming executive who held top jobs at Fox and NBC, said of network TV. The generation, he said, “grew up with organizing their worldview around it — the TV was the center of the living room, and we watched day-and-date.”

This is a critical time for the networks. They are a shell of what they used to be, and no longer the reliable hit factories and cultural forces of yesteryear.

Hollywood’s writers and actors strikes have only made matters worse.

Entertainment executives are privately fretting about a ratings collapse — not to mention further migration to streaming — without the vital aid of new scripted original programs.

Just nine years ago, the median age of most top-rated network entertainment shows ranged from the mid-40s to early 50s — it was 45 for the sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” and 52 for “The Big Bang Theory,” according to Nielsen. Some shows, including “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” had a median viewer as young as 39.

But in the most recent network television season, which ended in May, the median viewer was older than 60 for most entertainment shows, including “The Voice” (64.8), “The Masked Singer” (60.6), “Grey’s Anatomy” (64.1) and “Young Sheldon” (“65+,” the highest range that Nielsen provides).

Executives said in interviews that the median age for many of these series was younger when their viewership was measured on the networks’ affiliated streaming services such as Hulu, Peacock and Paramount+. Some shows have median ages that are 20 or 25 years younger than they are on broadcast, they said. The ABC hit “Abbott Elementary,” which has a viewer median age of 60.5 on broadcast, is also popular with younger viewers when it is streamed on Hulu.

Dick Wolf, a leading purveyor of procedurals, one of television’s classic genres, is a big presence for CBS’ usual lineup (“FBI,” “FBI: Most Wanted,” “FBI: International”), as well as NBC’s (“Law & Order: SVU,” “Chicago Med,” “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago P.D.”). Last year, NBC brought the original “Law & Order” back to life, starring 82-year-old Sam Waterston.

Other scripted series also come from an earlier time, including NBC’s “Quantum Leap” and “Magnum, P.I.” — which, unlike most of the network’s competitors, will have new episodes this season because they were taped before the strikes. CBS is resurrecting “Matlock,” which will star Kathy Bates and appear after “60 Minutes.”

Last year, NBC found a surprise hit in “Night Court,” a sitcom that debuted nearly four decades ago. (“Night Court” and “Quantum Leap” first appeared on the same night on NBC’s 1989 schedule.)

At ABC, executives decided to move “The Golden Bachelor” to an 8 p.m. slot on Thursdays, after the network had originally slotted it for Mondays at 10 p.m. One of the reasons: broad enthusiasm for the show as well as a strong lead-in from “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy!”

And, of course, “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy!” will have their own night to shine, with special prime-time celebrity editions on Wednesdays.

“These are shows that have been staples for the older audience for four or five decades — I think ‘Jeopardy!’ is even going to be hitting 60 years old in some form or another this coming year,” says Ari Goldman, senior vice president of content strategy and scheduling at ABC Entertainment. “These are shows that our audience has grown up with, and they’re comforting and sort of throwback programming for that audience.”

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