The fogeys are coming

Court judge James Pickles became an international emblem of fuddy-duddyness when, in the 1960s, he enquired from the bench, "Who are the Beatles?"

- Jane Clifton

Time would prove he was simply a cracking example of what is surely the most ingenious facet of modern demographics: the near-absolute separation of youth from middle age and beyond in matters of culture and entertainment.

No matter how well read, tech-savvy and spry the older age group of the day fancies itself, children and teens will always be getting into stuff utterly beyond their ken, and maddeningly incomprehensible to them when they eventually cotton on. Then, inevitably, that particular phenomenon will be passé, with new Secret Yoof Business afoot.

This is the embarrassingly belated "aha!" moment the BBC, among other flailing state broadcasters, is finally experiencing in its long and increasingly desperate quest to attract youth to its content.

The venerable Beeb has just published data showing that, while it might fairly claim to be one of the few media outlets with global reach to compete with online youth magnets, it's overwhelmingly losing the battle.