EPTThe goal of this blog is not to bash either of the leagues, but to bring up the issue of broadcasting times, and why having overlapping shows/leagues can hurt.
I'm sure there are fans of both of these two leagues, and I don't mean to take anything away from either of them. Both of them (in time) have amazing production quality, and great casting, as well as some great games. Having said that, I feel that the direct competitive nature of both of the leagues, as well as their broadcasting schedules, does nothing more then hurt both leagues.
In response to everyone who jumps on the "prime time is what they fight for", I would like to focus on the what "Prime Time" broadcasting hours are, and their relationship with internet streams.
+ Show Spoiler +
Prime Time is, for the most part, 8pm - 11pm, every day (PST), or 7pm - 10pm CST/EST. This is a standard that has existed in television for a long time. Now for sporting events, they usually run during the day, from 2pm to around 7pm (usually in the NA).
Now, the IPL starts right before the NASL, at 5pm, and runs for about 3-4 hours. This means, that it runs up and to the prime time, but not over it. Both leagues seem to favor starting before Prime Time broadcasting hours, at least in the NA. This may be due to the broadcast being too large to fit during prime time, but IPL (atleast) doesn't often touch those "prime time" hours.
Now both of these leagues numbers pale in comparison to those of the TSL. The TSL gets around 3-4x the amount of viewers, and starts mid-day (11am PST).
Now how could this be? Aren't Prime Time broadcasting hours supposed to be when a majority of will be watching tv? While this concept is important for a lot of cable programming and scheduling,
It does not affect sports viewing (starcraft is a sport), because event viewing runs on different rules then does tuning into your favorite reality tv show each day.
It doesn't take into account the scope of time zones of people who watch internet streams, as these cause a variance in the times which are "actually" prime time broadcasting hours.
It represents a demographic which doesn't match that of people who play/watch StarCraft. Im doing a bit far out with this one in reguards to facts, but most of us don't see ourselves as a "normal" person. (somewhat referencing personality tests on TL)
Prime Time for StarCraft broadcasts is a completely different concept then that of Prime Time on tv, for those reasons. There isn't a set good time to start or end a league, just as there isn't enough data on viewership to even guess at what those times might be. If you look at a recent poll on TL, 30% come from a CET timezone, 31% come from a EST/CST timezone, 14% come from GMT, and 13% come from a PST time zone. This means that there isn't a set ideal timezone to choose when selecting broadcasting times.
Now, the IPL starts right before the NASL, at 5pm, and runs for about 3-4 hours. This means, that it runs up and to the prime time, but not over it. Both leagues seem to favor starting before Prime Time broadcasting hours, at least in the NA. This may be due to the broadcast being too large to fit during prime time, but IPL (atleast) doesn't often touch those "prime time" hours.
Now both of these leagues numbers pale in comparison to those of the TSL. The TSL gets around 3-4x the amount of viewers, and starts mid-day (11am PST).
Now how could this be? Aren't Prime Time broadcasting hours supposed to be when a majority of will be watching tv? While this concept is important for a lot of cable programming and scheduling,
It does not affect sports viewing (starcraft is a sport), because event viewing runs on different rules then does tuning into your favorite reality tv show each day.
It doesn't take into account the scope of time zones of people who watch internet streams, as these cause a variance in the times which are "actually" prime time broadcasting hours.
It represents a demographic which doesn't match that of people who play/watch StarCraft. Im doing a bit far out with this one in reguards to facts, but most of us don't see ourselves as a "normal" person. (somewhat referencing personality tests on TL)
Prime Time for StarCraft broadcasts is a completely different concept then that of Prime Time on tv, for those reasons. There isn't a set good time to start or end a league, just as there isn't enough data on viewership to even guess at what those times might be. If you look at a recent poll on TL, 30% come from a CET timezone, 31% come from a EST/CST timezone, 14% come from GMT, and 13% come from a PST time zone. This means that there isn't a set ideal timezone to choose when selecting broadcasting times.
TLDR - There isn't a "Prime Time" broadcasting time in regards to the Internet, as the amount of countries and timezones that tune into each league make the start/end time completely irrelevant.
Old "Biased" Stuff...
+ Show Spoiler +
Comments on Quality
+ Show Spoiler +
Now, it seems that the IGN wants to take viewers away from the NASL. Instead of working with them schedule wise, they place their broadcast schedule right over the NASL. Broadcast schedule for the NASL has been known for quite some time, yet IGN just decides the best time would be during those hours? Sure there are other reasons for this, but starting 30min before the NASL's preshow (meaning 1 hour before games) means they position themselves to have the higher viewer count for the remainder of their broadcast, due to the investment of time and "loyality" this helps build.
This type of scheduling bad for both leagues. It cuts the viewership of both in about half. The direct competition between two companies, with a very limited viewer base, has far reaching consequences for sponsors, and decisions regarding the future is each league. When people look at both leagues fighting for a few thousand viewers every day, the numbers just aren't there.
Think Of It Like This:
You and your sibling have 3 cupcakes between the two of you. Instead of dividing them, you fight over who gets the last one, because both of you think only one deserves it. That's basically whats happening here. Each cupcake represents the time people watch sc2. Now in this scenario, after a while, the other two cupcakes get taken away, meaning less for the both of you. Sure one might get a bigger chunk of the remaining, but over all, there is more market time (cupcake) out there.
If IGN worked something out with the NASL, and broadcast before or after, not during, it would be a few more hours of league play per day, which means that overall, more time is spent watching.
Also, I would like to bring up the fact that the day9 daily runs during the mid-game of the NASL, as well as (sometimes) the end of the IPL. Now the daily draws a good 10k viewers on a NASL day, but only 5k when the NASL is broadcasting. Sometimes its as low as 3k when both of them are on.
Perhaps I'm over-reacting a bit, and perhaps this problem will eventually fix itself. Maybe I'm being too cynical in regards to the times that IGN picked. Did they really want to compete with the NASL? Maybe its even a bias I have because I feel some sort of loyalty towards the NASL, as I was there, excited, and waiting for it to launch.
I guess I just wanted to point this out, and see if its something worth mentioning. Anyone else feel that there is way too much sc to watch at one time, so you don't end up watching any?
+ Show Spoiler +
For the most part, the production quality of the IPL has no rival, including free 1080p and free vods. The folks at WellPlayed.org did an amazing job at ensuring they took a lot of viewers away from NASL. Now my concern is just that. While the IPL has quality, it lacks personality, and a good player base. There is no back and forth of a duo commentary, and I would reguard it as just watching youtube videos of the solo casters for a few hours, abet well produced. Prize Pool aside, I would much rather tune into the games over at the NASL, if they quality was about the same. Sure there are 1080p, and vods, and what not for free, but I just find myself not caring that much about the IPL.
Now, it seems that the IGN wants to take viewers away from the NASL. Instead of working with them schedule wise, they place their broadcast schedule right over the NASL. Broadcast schedule for the NASL has been known for quite some time, yet IGN just decides the best time would be during those hours? Sure there are other reasons for this, but starting 30min before the NASL's preshow (meaning 1 hour before games) means they position themselves to have the higher viewer count for the remainder of their broadcast, due to the investment of time and "loyality" this helps build.
This type of scheduling bad for both leagues. It cuts the viewership of both in about half. The direct competition between two companies, with a very limited viewer base, has far reaching consequences for sponsors, and decisions regarding the future is each league. When people look at both leagues fighting for a few thousand viewers every day, the numbers just aren't there.
Think Of It Like This:
You and your sibling have 3 cupcakes between the two of you. Instead of dividing them, you fight over who gets the last one, because both of you think only one deserves it. That's basically whats happening here. Each cupcake represents the time people watch sc2. Now in this scenario, after a while, the other two cupcakes get taken away, meaning less for the both of you. Sure one might get a bigger chunk of the remaining, but over all, there is more market time (cupcake) out there.
If IGN worked something out with the NASL, and broadcast before or after, not during, it would be a few more hours of league play per day, which means that overall, more time is spent watching.
Also, I would like to bring up the fact that the day9 daily runs during the mid-game of the NASL, as well as (sometimes) the end of the IPL. Now the daily draws a good 10k viewers on a NASL day, but only 5k when the NASL is broadcasting. Sometimes its as low as 3k when both of them are on.
Perhaps I'm over-reacting a bit, and perhaps this problem will eventually fix itself. Maybe I'm being too cynical in regards to the times that IGN picked. Did they really want to compete with the NASL? Maybe its even a bias I have because I feel some sort of loyalty towards the NASL, as I was there, excited, and waiting for it to launch.
I guess I just wanted to point this out, and see if its something worth mentioning. Anyone else feel that there is way too much sc to watch at one time, so you don't end up watching any?
The NASL announced its broadcast schedule at the end of February (a while before the IPL was announced). They stated that they had an ambitious project which would take up a majority of the "Prime Time" broadcast hours for NA (which is less then half its audience), and they would also broadcast again for their EU viewers. They do a double broadcast because they charge for access to their vods.
Now IGN, being a competitive company, decided that its in their best interests to broadcast along the same time. Their broadcast wasn't as important, as they have free vods. However, they also have free 1080p, and their production quality is much higher. They choose ideal times to compete for the NASL viewers.
However, because of certain factors, their numbers, for the most part, have been less then that of the NASL broadcast. Also, since the start of the IPL, numbers are down a little bit for the NASL, during the time when the IPL is on.
This is most likely due to the IPL having free vods, and it not being advertised as heavily in the community as the NASL, nor as hyped.
Now the viewer market can be judged to be around 100k people, as there are usually around 10-20k people watching streams at any given time, and the highest broadcasting numbers usually reach about 50-60k people (TSL).
This market represents the difference most small time tv shows on cable see between episodes. However small that market is, it can be argued that it is growing, as starcraft is becoming more accessible to the masses. However, growth is smaller right now, due to the game being in between expansions. (Communities usually experience their largest periods of growth at the release of new sequels and expansions to their game.)
This means that during the broadcast of the NASL and IPL, the market becomes somewhat over saturated with content, and the numbers of viewers are much smaller then they should be, if one league were to be broadcasting. Now, one may argue that they both are focusing on the "prime time" market, but if you read the above, thats not wholly true. As it turns out, they are just in competition with each other, seeking no benefit other then brand loyalty, or disloyalty.
If both NASL and IGN worked something out, it would benefit both of the broadcasts viewing numbers, and create a dynamic between the two leagues, which might in turn generate more "live" viewer interest (think of the NFC and AFC, where there can be a live back and forth before/after a broadcast).
TLDR - The broadcast times of both the NASL and IPL cause a large drop in viewers for both leagues, causing less interest by corporate figures, and overall hurting esports. Scheduling them at different times means there is more time spent watching league play, and overall, more viewers for everyone.
Notes:
This is not a flame post. I don't have any issue with either league, and love watching them both live. The issue comes from the fact that during most of the day, 3-7pm central, there are no leagues being run, and both of these leagues choose 8-12 to show their content.
While coming up with the title, I originally didn't want to be too bold. Sure I can name it something more revelent, like "Broadcasting Times Issue", but I do think this is a serious thing that needs to be addressed/talked about. The root cause of this is a conflict between the NASL and IPL broadcasting times, which i would point the finger at the IPL for causing.
