As I learned on the playback this morning, those dirty tricksters at NBC let the last "Friends" go a wee bit longer than its scheduled length (9:59, according to my TV guide). This is nothing new for them, especially on "Must See TV" Thursday nights. So while this isn't the first time I've lost the last five minutes of a show I've recorded, it is the first time I've ever lost a penultimate final scene. Nice.

Most PVR owners think the network does this deliberately, to confound their time-shifting of shows and their commercial-zapping behavior. While that's a nice conspiracy theory, and probably something the executives chuckle over as an unexpected side effect, that's not the reason.

Actually, this is called "ratings stunting." Deceptively simple. You're getting blockbuster ratings for a show that runs, say, from 9-10PM. Well, in the theory of "appointment television," a large segment of those viewers are going to tune into your show no matter what. So if you manipulate that a little bit, you can either bring those folk in early, or keep them late, splashing those huge numbers into quarter-hours where they don't deserve to be.

If you run seven minutes long, you're not only keeping viewers from going to other channels where they start and stop shows normally, you're forcing many of them to stay with you. It's hard for viewers to join episodic television already in progress. So a sizable number of people, who might otherwise have bailed the moment the Friends credits rolled, were "stuck" watching ER, even if they'd normally go off to CBS, ABC, or elsewhere.

Can they get away with that? Why, yes. And enough of you have viewing habits that are so easy to figure out, it's incredibly worthwhile for networks, who live on their numbers, to do these things. 11:29:58 AM    comment []trackback []  

This week, it's been entertaining at least to be stuck in one. On I-91 south of Windsor Locks, they've been coning down from three to two lanes for several miles at a stretch. This started on Tuesday. I'm not sure what they're doing, because I never see any actual work being done other than the placement and/or retrieval of cones. Probably painting overpasses, wiping off dirty signs, or other such "highway repairs" typical of Connecticut.

I've been stuck in this mess (with no viable alternate on the Springfield/Hartford to-and-fro) every day. But I've been entertained, at least, while moseying along. I've especially enjoyed watching the line jumpers. If you ride this stretch, you know the drill... whenever traffic backs up, many happy assholes cross over to the HOV lane and cruise past the frustration, whether or not they're at the required vehicle occupancy levels. Usually that pisses me off, but this week's been different. I know the surprise that lies ahead.

I watch them hit the diamond lane, usually cutting someone off in the process, stomping the gas. Ha! I'm far too clever for my shirt! Enjoy the delay, suckers! Then, I watch them crest the hill, see the phalanx of state police cruisers, and the wedge of drivers trapped in the wrong lane at the wrong time.

Arrogance fades, panic ensues. A few even try to merge back over. Like anyone who stayed in the slow lane's ever going to let that happen. Screw that. You're busted. Fool.

I'm betting that's an expensive ticket. You've got the misuse of HOV citation, the illegal lane usage citation for jumping the solid painted lines, and speeding in a work zone, all rolled into one. Hey hey, triple play.

And while I love seeing some road-rageaholics get theirs for once, I have to emphasize I *still* have not seen any actual construction. 1:46:30 AM    comment []trackback []