Let It Count

Ever since I read Freakanomics, I've been up in arms with whatever is happening around me. I'm just so hell bent on finding reasons behind why anyones doing what they are doing. I mostly think of bringing down politicians or celebs, but in general I’ve been thinking a lot, trying so hard to find patterns and answers to all kinds of questions. Actually there are not many questions, I’m just conspiring things to frame my own questions. After all, it’s good to question right?

That’s what my dad kept saying… sadly for him it only sounded good until I started asking questions. 

Anyway.. So the deal with this post is my obsession with Freakanomics. Freakanomics generally means finding patterns or signs to explain economic, social or political decisions and happenings. I’m just posting a problem that I found while watching TV. I’ve cracked my head and come up with scenarios, but I still can’t find a solution.

Heres the problem:

Problem Statement: The latest trend in TV channels has been the addition of the timer. It started with movie channels and now can be found in all channels including news and music channels. The timer starts counting down from 2 mins with a board about it that says "show will be back in" or "movie continues in" or "more news is" etc.. the objective of implementing the timer is to hold the audience. If there is a timer then you will know that the show will be back in just 2 mins and will not change the channel.. therefore watching more advertisements.

But theres another angle...  if you know that the show will resume in 2 mins, then you will change the channel knowing that the show won’t start for atleast 2 mins.

Also, not all add breaks are 2 mins long, they are 5 or say 8 mins long and so.. the timer won’t show up till the first 6 mins are past. In that case, I will switch to another channel and just keep checking if the timer has appeared. So the channel is losing viewership in the first 6 mins. But will they have views in the count down period.

But as seen earlier, once the timer comes up, the viewer will switch to other channel because he knows that the show won’t return for atleast 2 mins

So, is this idea of having the timer good or bad for the channel? If you were the customer would you want your product to be advertised in the 2 min window or before that? Or is the idea itself retrogressive and will reduce the viewer ship during breaks in the long run? Think!

That was the problem which I couldn’t solve as I’m thinking too much from customer, channel and the viewer’s POV. So I thought I might get some help if I posted this on the blog. Not to mention.. some comments :P :D 

Keep digging!! You could just be right!