Just got a response... another form letter of course:
Thanks for writing to KEYE; we appreciate you taking the time to contact us.
Needless to say, the controversy over KEYE airing the Texans or the Titans is already running at full throttle. This year, like last year, KEYE officially chooses its game assignments 12 days out from the date of the game. Again like last year, we will make those decisions as we go through the season.
Figuring into each decision is the idea that KEYE should attempt to provide the sports programming that the largest number of people in Austin want to see, and at the same time, we would like to offer programming that supports our in-state sports franchises. Like last year, those two goals are often at odds with each other.
One thing we can be sure of is that our decisions either way will unfortunately disappoint a portion of the sports fans in Austin , and we will never please everyone.
Looking at the number of people who chose to watch the various games we aired last year, a couple of trends become apparent. The most obvious is that the Titans games were viewed (chosen) by Austin football fans in far greater numbers than the Texans games.
The common Texans game last year was chosen for viewing by 33,731 households of the 602,340 households in the metro area. That is 61% less than the number of households watching the common Titans game. In truth, the least-watched game on KEYE all season was when the Texans played the Dolphins on Oct 1st. In that game just 15,000 households tuned in. The second least-watched game of the season was also a Texans game with just 23,000 watching.
On the other hand, the least watched Titans game was a throw away on New Years Eve and was watched by almost 36,000 households. On average, Titans games on KEYE last year were viewed by over 56,000 households, with a high over 72,000.
Clearly, our wish to support Texas sports franchises is out of line with our desire to please the largest number of local sports fans we can. Our response to this will be as it was last year that is, to fairly cover both teams as best as we can. We will make our game choices as we go through the season and will publish our choices in the available programming guides.
Again, thanks for writing to KEYE, please feel free to contact us at any time.
Gary Vinson
Programming / Research Director
10700 Metric Blvd
Austin Texas 78758gavinson@keyetv.com
F U KEYE!!
Here is the email I just wrote to Mr Vinson ---
<<< The common Texans game last year was chosen for viewing by 33,731 households of the 602,340 households in the metro area. That is 61% less than the number of households watching the common Titans game. In truth, the least-watched game on KEYE all season was when the Texans played the Dolphins on Oct 1st. In that game just 15,000 households tuned in. The second least-watched game of the season was also a Texans game with just 23,000 watching.
On the other hand, the least watched Titans game was a throw away on New Years Eve and was watched by almost 36,000 households. On average, Titans games on KEYE last year were viewed by over 56,000 households, with a high over 72,000.
Clearly, our wish to support Texas sports franchises is out of line with our desire to please the largest number of local sports fans we can. Our response to this will be as it was last year that is, to fairly cover both teams as best as we can. We will make our game choices as we go through the season and will publish our choices in the available programming guides.
Again, thanks for writing to KEYE, please feel free to contact us at any time.
>>>
Mr. Vinson, please consider the following points:
1. Vince Young was a shiny new novelty last year.
2. The Texans fans were mired in the midst of a QB revolt, as they/we quickly realized that Carr was not the answer. This was enough to make many people tune out, as they waited for next year.
3. The Texans are turned around this year. New QB. New energy. New excitement among the fan base.
4. We are in Texas, no?
5. You are putting KEYE forth as the "official home of the Texans," no?
6. Two words. Season. Opener.
Please, kindly support your LOCAL team. That team name rhymes with "Texans." Or remove your meaningless claim to being the Texans' home. (Doing so is only destroying your brand equity, as you violate trust among a large fan base.) But, please continue to take your stats and draw flawed conclusions, as the very decisions you make only serve to drive away viewers in droves.
It's so very disappointing. Not only as a fan, but as a fellow marketer. I would thought the story behind the data would have been patently obvious.
Sincerely yours,
Rick
