Missing Series Links -
Conclusion
So there we
are................over the past few days I have hopefully highlighted to you
the general behaviour of the Series Link. Although it is a function that Sky
designed and implemented, it is up to the individual broadcasters to offer this
service to the standard that subscribers expect. Because of this they are
responsible for controlling their own praise and criticism.
We all have our own
favourite programmes that we watch, and no doubt when that programme is set and
that link then appears, we all sit there with that satisfied look emblazoned
across our faces, safe in the knowledge that your favourite programme will be
set for the next day/week.
For these programmes we
become complacent, and indeed why not! However my intention in this latest
article was to bring to your attention all those programmes that could have
been linked, but indeed failed to offer the choice.
Below you will find the
' Victors ', the ' Close runners up ' and last of all the ' Could do much
better ', that has been put together from my findings.
Due to the late arrival
of five to the world of Series Links, the only difference to the overall
findings was that five's week commenced from Saturday 12.07.03 from 06:00hrs to
06:00hrs on Saturday 19.07.03.
1 - Over the course of
the week Sky One came out the true champions. They broadcast 208 programmes and
175 of those offered the Series Link. This is a very admirable 84.13 % of
programmes linked.
2 - In second place
came newcomers five, with 245 programmes broadcast, of which 173 were linked.
This equated to 70.61 % of programmes being linked.
3 - In third place came
Channel 4. The broadcaster offered 139 links from 226 programmes, which
totalled 61.50 % of programmes being linked.
4 - In fourth place
came BBC1, with 170 programmes broadcast, it offered 96 links, totalling 56.47
%
5 - In fifth place came
BBC2. 240 programmes were broadcast, with 120 linked, therefore equating to a
safe 50 %
6 - In last place came
ITV1. Over the course of the week 219 programmes were broadcast, but only a
very poor 64 programmes offered the Series Link function. This totals a very
weak 29.22 %
As mentioned, the above
are the figures that each broadcaster actually offered. Taking it a step
further, below you will find the list of the same broadcasters for the very
same week, and the calculated figures had they used the link to its full
potential, considering their original number of broadcasts.
1 - For the week Sky
One could have only increased their use of the links by 24, equating to an
extra 11.54 %. This would have then given Sky One a weekly total of 95.67
%
2 - Five could have
increased their links to an extra 36 programmes. This would have been an extra
14.69 %, offering a new weekly reading of 85.30 %
3 - Channel 4 could
have increased their links to an extra 44 programmes. This would have been an
extra 19.47 % linked, offering a new weekly total of 80.97 %
4 - BBC2 could have
increased their links to 70 programmes, an increase of 29.16 %. This would have
then shown a new weekly total of 79.16 %
5 - BBC1 could have
increased their links by 58. This would have been an increase of 34.11 %. The
new weekly total could have been 90.58 %
6 - Lastly ITV1 could
have increased their links by a huge 134. This would have equated to a massive
61.19 %, which would have given them a new weekly total of 90.41
%
So there we have
it, Sky One aside, all the remaining channels have certain room for
improvement. ITV1, after coming out rather high from a previous Series Link
article, really need to look in their handbook and concentrate on that section
' Series Links - Point Of ' The BBC channels should maybe feel a tinge of
embarrassment considering Channel 4, a fairly late arrival to the world of
links seems to be performing better.
Though Sky may have
been handed the ' Link Crown ' I feel the real recognition should go to five.
Their figures read very nicely indeed, and with a bit of tweaking and fine
tuning with their daily news bulletins, things can only get better. Despite the
fact that they are late arrivals, within 1 week five have shown us that they
have grasped the idea and made recording on five far more pleasurable for Sky +
users. |