Real-Life Decision Making
Television programmers must be excellent at making decisions. "You need
skills in critical analysis because you are constantly looking at programs.
And you have to be able to say, not necessarily what do I like, but what's
right for my network, what's right for my audience," says Michele Paris.
She is the program coordinator for a public television station.
And mistakes in television programming can be costly. They may cause a
drop in viewership and advertising revenues.
You are a television programmer. Your station is not sure if it should
replace a popular sitcom called Buddies with Outcasts. It is
a reality-based television program.
The first version of the show was hugely popular last year, and this new
version may be even more popular. So it may make the station a lot of money.
In fact, your competition is totally sold on it and will show it opposite
Buddies.
But you do not know how the viewers might react to Outcasts. It is still
unproven, really. Buddies has been in that same time-slot for years, and it
is a proven winner. In fact, the network that produces Buddies has promised
to improve it, and you have the option of showing Buddies earlier in the evening.
What do you do?