Generation Reinvention # 5: the Future of Retirement Housing and Age Inclusiveness in Television

Boomers are thinking about retirement living. Many are planning for a time when successful aging includes an ideal location with well-designed lifestyle amenities. While the rich can afford tailored specifications, middle-class Boomers must look elsewhere, and they need not look further than a community conceived by this week’s guest. Further, Boomers have become aware that too much of mainstream television doesn’t target their entertainment preferences. Wouldn’t it be great if someone understood how Boomers want to live and be entertained through relevant television? Someone has. John Erikson is founder of Erickson Retirement Communities: 19 communities along the Eastern seaboard, housing more than 23,000 50+ adults. His communities manifest his “six pillars of successful aging.” This thinking has revolutionized retirement living.He could have stopped there. But instead, he took what he understood about aging adults and launched cable network Retirement Living TV to provide a new voice to a generation largely ignored by television. Launching RLTV was a natural extension of his interest in the spirit of community among the 55-plus set. By broadcasting a positive image of the true lives of Boomers and seniors, he intends to change America’s views.

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