Television
Television scheduling is part art, part science. The art comes from predicting which programmes viewers might watch together in blocks, going from one show to another on the same channel on the same night. The science comes from analysing ratings and demographics in order to discover who is watching a particular show, and how/when.
It's increasingly important for TV networks to know whether viewers watch shows on the internet, via a service like Hulu Plus, BBC iPlayer, YouTube or Amazon, or whether they watch 'live' (at the time of original broadcast), or time-shift their viewing via DVR.
Television broadcasts used to be the only way audiences could experience TV shows. However, the advent of the video recorder in the 1980s brought in the concept of time shifted viewing, and also the reality that viewers could fast-forward through advertising. Today, there are a number of different technologies on which we can consume a TV show - as a DVD box set, online (including via pirated downloads), on a phone or tablet, via a DVR recording. Therefore the old patterns of TV scheduling are fading.
While it's still important for a TV network to programme in blocks, and consider the different merits of different nights of the week (audience want different shows at the weekend than they do in the week, comedy traditionally does well on a Tuesday etc), there is now much more emphasis on content delivery across different media. Networks accept that online TV viewing is here to stay, and that, over time, audiences will abandon their traditional TV sets altogether. Whether you watch online or on TV, the network want you to be exposed to advertising, so that they can generate revenue to make more shows. However, it's still easiest for networks to maximize ratings (and therefore advertising dollars) through traditional prime-time broadcasts.
Before the video recorder, watching a TV show was a shared social experience. Whole nations would all "tune in at the same time" to watch a popular show, especially if there was some kind of cliffhanger set up or resolution, or for the finale of a drama. In a small country like the UK, where all viewing happens in the same time zone, this causes a phenomenon known as TV Pickup, a surge in the National Grid that occurs immediately before and after a record-rated show, as everyone switches on their kettles or other small appliances after walking away from their TV. In the age of time-shifted viewing, it's very rare to see the kind of power surge that occurred after the 1984 broadcast of The Thorn Birds finale (the biggest surge experienced after a TV drama), but surges still happen, after big events like major football matches or a royal wedding.
If people watch the same TV show at the same time, then that's what everyone wants to talk about the next day at school or work. In the days before time-shifted TV, episodes of shows became hot topics the following morning 'around the water cooler', discussed simultaneously in newspaper reviews and ordinary conversation. "Water Cooler TV" is still a phrase bandied round by TV executives, but it's now used to describe the global discussion that goes on about TV shows via social media networks like Twitter and Facebook, as well as via blog posts.
Social media is useful to TV networks for generating excitement prior to the broadcast of a show, and for ensuring that as many people as possible tune in during the original time slot. The creation of Facebook pages and Twitter feeds for shows and characters is a vital tool for building fan loyalty. This is particularly important for the finale of a talent show like American Idol or BGT. Because so many people discuss the content of a show via tweets and status updates as it happens, spoilers abound on the internet for anyone who's not next to a TV set.
However, social media is a double-edged sword where international drama sales are concerned. When viewers in one country get to see a show first, their online discussion may spoil things for viewers in other countries, especially where the death of a character or a plot twist is concerned. Networks are well aware of this problem, because it generates demand for pirated shows. Unable to wait, a fan might illegally download episodes of their favorite show so that they can keep up with the online chatter - and know what happens! Dexter was the most downloaded TV show of 2011, because Season Six was broadcast in the US long before it appeared anywhere else.
Traditionally, television is a mass medium, which means that it has the difficult task of trying to please the majority of the people, most of the time. However, with the advent of satellite and digital broadcasting, television has become increasingly segmented. This means that there are specialist channels transmitting a narrow type of programming for specific segments of the mass audience. These segments can be identified by interest or by demographics.
For example:
| Channel | Audience |
| The Cartoon Network | Children |
| MTV | 12-25 year olds |
| ESPN | Sports fans i.e. mostly male, 18-49 |
| CNN | ABC1s |
This makes it easy for advertisers - if they want to attract the attention of a specific target audience then they can find them watching a specific channel.
As the century progresses, and viewer choice increases, it is likely that TV channels will target smaller and smaller segments of audience. The term "broadcast" will become obsolete, replaced by "narrowcast". This raises all sorts of issues - mainly to do with finance. Segmented TV is minority TV. If TV channels can only target specific segments of an audience, how will they fund their programming? Will they rely on endless reruns and cheap filler TV, while demanding pay-per-view for expensive events?
In the meantime, the main terrestrial broadcasters still schedule TV programmes for a mass audience. They try to air programming that will be popular with a large number of people, but they pay careful attention to satisfying a range of tastes — the TV programme has not yet been invented that EVERYBODY likes — by providing a variety of shows. Careful attention is also paid to who is watching, when. The TV day is divided into distinct zones (a process known as Dayparting in the US):
| Time | Types of Show/Audience |
| 6am-9am | Early Morning Breakfast TV, news headlines, topical and celebrity interviews, lifestyle tips etc. Current affairs that get people up to speed on what happened globally as they slept |
| 9am-4pm | Daytime
Designed for the relatively small audiences (students, the unemployed, housewives, shift workers) watching TV at home during the day. These people may not typically have much of a disposable income, but advertisers are still interested in them.
|
| 4pm-7pm | Early Fringe
|
| 7pm-11pm | Prime Time, when networks do battle over the ABC1 audience aged 18-49
DON'T FORGET THE WATERSHED!!! (9pm in UK/US, 8.30pm in HK)
|
| 11pm-6am | Late Fringe (Late night/overnight)
2am-6am is known as the 'graveyard slot' and isn't considered important |
This is just a general guide to the programming zones that you might find on terrestrial TV round the world - where terrestrial TV broadcasts 24 hours a day. Have a look at some TV schedules from different countries to see if you can spot the patterns.
TV schedulers need to attract an audience at the beginning of the day, and keep then watching right up to the end. This is achieved through a variety of different techniques.
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