What to do about those late starting times?
Is it time to start logging late starting times by networks? TV Tonight needs your help.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
I’ve been thinking about the ongoing problem of late starting times, which have been a bug-bear by viewers since longer than I can remember.
As we know it’s getting worse.
So I’ve been wondering about ways that TV Tonight can facilitate the audience’s frustration with this practice and I’m thinking that “crowd-sourcing” is the answer….
I’d like to explore the idea of readers tracking the starting times of prime-time shows, as a way of highlighting those that are the worst offenders.
This would mean readers logging information such as:
Name of Show
Channel
City
EPG starting time*
Print TV Guide starting time*
Network promo starting time*
Network online guide starting time*
Actual starting time
*choose one or multiple
These options would give readers the chance to express the time they were led to believe a show was to start versus the actual time it started. In time I suspect it would build up a pattern. Whether that leads to any improvement is another matter…
Before I kick this off I thought I would seek some input from Readers on whether you think this is worthwhile, how you see it working and what other variables need to be taken into consideration. It will also need a name if it is to become a permanent fixture (not sure yet).
I would probably be looking to kick this off post-Olympics. I don’t think it makes sense to host it when it’s not an even playing field.
This would also be separate from the annual Audience Inventory which is due to kick off soon.
Thoughts?
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- Tagged with Olympics
57 Responses
Overall, the data collected may be piecemeal as it depends on what shows and how much TV the contributors (the numbers of whom may fluctuate) watch. We may also need to verify that the starting times reported are accurate. Other than that, love the idea! This is definitely a problem that is prevalent in the TV landscape. (And I love Secret Squirrel’s idea of naming it Channel Watch. Pretty clever!)
I live in central Victoria and our EPG is always pretty accurate – way more up to date than any published TV Guide. So you check the Guide first, then head for the EPG to see if a particular program is really on. Half the time it isn’t.
I worked in TV in the very early days and being on time was paramount. 9 even had a full screen clock as you came up to newstime. The News is still pretty much the only program which starts on time. After that, it’s all downhill.
Ok well that’s triggered a reaction. I will look at what I can launch for post-Olympics. Keep the ideas comin’!
@Scribbly Gummer: it’s not so much “people complaining about free stuff – how dare they!” as the fact that things have degenerated to the current level within memory.
20 years ago, the program that was advertised in the weekend TV guide started on time, had 10-12 minutes of ads per hour, wasn’t plagued with ‘ads that don’t count as ads’ covering up to 1/4 of the screen, wasn’t plastered with a continuous ad for the station you’re already watching, and was shown in its entirety. And you could be assured of seeing the whole series.
None of that is the case now. The utility and quality of “free TV” has degenerated to the point where what you get just isn’t worth the effort for most people – rather than accepting “free”, they’re actively being discouraged from watching it!
Personally, I no longer care. The networks have repeatedly been warned by viewers that their actions are annoying, they’ve largely chosen to ignore those warnings, and now they’re complaining about people turning way from them. They made their bed, they can lie in it…
Do it! I’ll contribute 🙂
Count me in!
If this is going to happen it needs to be fast, just like a Kings Cross junkie I need to have this filthy habit removed from my life before it destroys my sense of time and spatial presence.
Week in and week out a gloomy tear in the space time continuum is eating away at my moral fibre and I feel the effects are creeping into all parts of my life……let’s see? That appointment with those customers, what the hell they can wait 12 minutes.
My TV time has not only adjusted but has started to depend on late starts with cups of tea and even the odd shower or extended toilet breaks having no urgency with the knowledge that I probably will not miss the start.
Time to exorcise this demon, dependency means a sudden stop will lead to extended periods at rehab and minor adjustments to my independent time zone.
a drop down list (or something of the sorts) of all the shows would be a must so show names would be consistent…
or maybe a form like a tv guide (one for each region), select which show in which time slot (making listed start times consistent), then fill out the actual starting time noted by the viewer.
it would give much more consistent and accurate data, makes it easier for us to fill in, and easier for you to draw conclusions from 🙂
Happy to participate but I doubt it will make a shred of difference to the networks. What do they care what a tiny section of people who frequent a blog site think? Sorry to be a cynic, but it’s the networks who have made me this way.
Lee-Roy, I like your idea. It would be very amusing if the networks started receiving an endless supply of clocks in the post. Imagine how much of their mail room staff’s time we could waste 😉
What’s gonna happen with this information though??? This has been a major issue for years and the networks are aware of the complaints but nothing’s changed.
And starting times is not part of the code. That is exactly the problem. The networks know they can get away with it, so they are happy to do. In the US and UK they have systems in place to ensure it doesn’t happen and consequences if they run late. ACMA is already useless and i doubt they’ll do anything about this either.
I’ve given up on fta television, and my solution was turn the tv off, turn the computer on.
Brilliant idea and you can count me in. I am over the all of the Australian TV networks incl. Foxtel. There are shows that are encored late at night and sometimes they start them 10 minutes late. Don’t ask me how or why they do but its crazy.
Obviously the FTA networks in this country are out of control and need to have rules enforced just like the US and UK. Its time the government takes charge and begins fining networks. Can’t wait to get this going David. I am sure we are going to have 100’s.
Or if you are going to run them at 8:42pm then advertise 8:42pm for the show.
As much as I get pissed off as much as the next person, I have never known so many peaople to whinge about anything else that is Free. Imagine if we had to pay for it !!
@victormuscles
I’ve contacted the ACMA on numerous occasions about broadcast EPG inaccuracies. They don’t really set out clear terms for the channels to provide accurate times so they really can’t do much, plus they’re a toothless tiger anyway.
Still, it is a joke the way we’re treated in Australia. As you mention, in the US their EPG is second (not minute) accurate and that’s in a market with a great deal more competition, one would imagine it should display more dirty tricks. In the UK all channels have to broadcast the EPG for all channels, which is an absolute boon, as you don’t have to change channels to populate your broadcast EPG. Not only that, but theirs is also second accurate.
I’d like to give this idea of David’s a whirl, perhaps naming and shaming will help, though given the general disregard that most Australian commercial broadcasters have for their viewers, it’s definitely a long shot.
Sounds excellent, would shame the networkds that start late but also highlight networks that stick to epg starting time.
A good idea, how about calling it simply “Late Again!”
I think if you could come up with a form of some sort which could be filled in and then collated automatically that would be great. And it would be great to get statistics on the programmes’ run times.
I meant to say: The television networks don’t own the airwaves, they have a licence to use them. That’s “use” not “sue”. But maybe we should sue them.
An absolutely superlative idea, David. I presume that you’re thinking of some sort of electronic form that people can fill out. This will hopefully achieve some consistency with the data.
It’s important that times are recorded accurately so people will need to refer to an accurate clock; eg a computer that is sync’d with a time-server (“internet time”), or ask Google “what is the time” – my STB and PVR are often 1 or 2 minutes out even tho’ they both receive a time signal from whichever channel is being viewed.
Lastly, to achieve some credibility regarding the validity of the data, some minimum sample size should be adhered to; perhaps as few as 5 recorded times per program per city that are in agreement would suffice. Also outlier data points (those that don’t agree with the majority) should be ignored to remove measuring errors, typos, and malicious entries.
As for a name, how about “Channel Watch” which allows for three meanings of ‘watch’ – to observe, to be vigilant, and the time-piece.
It’s those Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men older reruns when the latter was on that always started late by a few minutes.we can blame that on the final story on Bogan Trash Affair on 9 running overtime at 7pm.
This issue needs to be brought to the attention of the Communications Minister. The television networks don’t own the airwaves, they have a licence to sue them. If they breach their licence then they could lose it. The “false advertising” could be a breach.
If this could be used by the ACMA or ACCC “false advertising” to bring the TV stations accountable for their run times – then it would be a fantastic set of tools. But if there is no licence restrictions or trade practice violations nothing will change.
However if it is not publicised it becomes a database of start times, but nothing will eventuate.
I dont understand how a country of 22 million allows for a TV industry to be run by hacks that cant even tell their viewers what they intend to show today or tomorrow with an accurate start time publicised well in advance.
Look at the US TV industry – they lock in their shows for the advertiser – months in advance. “aka the Fall Season” – they will adjust if the shows rate due to poor ratings.” Like previously mentioned all these are timed to the second. Here it is simply plain sloppy and greedy.
Furthermore, and i suppose it is off topic,
I am ashamed to be in a country where a National FTA network can show the big bang theory to its primetime audience so many times that they have nothing else left in their imagination, I would understand a dedicated Foxtel channel but FTA..
The BBC or CBS dont do this – why 9.
Totally support this, David. Is there a way of integrating a ‘poll’ type mechanism on your website so it automatically pulls the data for you and automatically compiles, say, all reports for The Amazing Race in WA go together to give an aggregate start time to compare against the aggregate for NSW? I might report the start time as 7.03pm while someone else might report it as 7.04pm so a poll program would do all the work for you.
Brilliant idea David ! I have noticed that whenever they and that means nearly all channels, they are able to their stuff right if they are going to “football” or cricket. They just need to pare back on their commercials. Could be a field on how many commercial breaks they show. Because that is where they make up their overtimes. When deregulation came in for the TV networks, I thought we will have ad breaks after ad breaks, I guess I was wreong we have the same number of ad breraks so long in fact I sometimes have enough time for a shower. After all deregulation worked so well for the banks !
Funnily enough at the moment Home & Away seems to be starting on time, but i never get to see the start, because now Neighbours is not starting or finishing on time, when it used too. You can’t win unless they all get their act together.