BUT AREN'T ALL THE YOUNG PEOPLE UNEMPLOYED?:

Based on author Craig Johnson's mystery books about Walt Longmire, a Wyoming county sheriff whose laconic personality belies his razor-sharp detective skills, "Longmire" was A&E's second-most popular show behind the reality hit "Duck Dynasty," averaging 5.6 million viewers this season, according to Nielsen. That is better than critical darlings "Mad Men" on AMC AMCX -0.56%  and "Justified" on FX.

Unfortunately for "Longmire," it has the wrong audience and the wrong owner. A&E said it pulled the plug on "Longmire" because it appeals primarily to older viewers--the median age of the show's viewers is 60 versus 48 for the network as a whole--and it doesn't have an ownership stake in the show. A&E is a unit of A+E Networks, a joint-venture between Walt Disney Co. DIS -0.33%  and Hearst Corp.

"Longmire's" fate is reflective of two growing trends in the television industry--the obsession of advertisers with younger viewers and the desire of TV networks to own as much of their content as possible.

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