Discovery Channel Sucks

[Trekker4747]

For weeks now they've been advertising new episodes of Mythbusters, including the "Viral (video) Myths" that was supposed to be on tonight -including a "flying" car made with water cannons.

Some "brilliant" mind at Discovery decided to at the litertal 11th hour to change the scheduling so instead they reran the first 2-Hour Pirate special. Pretty fucking absurd when just this evening they advertised new episodes and the specific new episode they were supposed to have on.



Who the hell is running that network anyway?

And don't tell me that it is because of The Olympics considering they've only be scheduled to be on at these exact times for how many years now?

 

[RobertVA]

I experienced a similar problem when the cable program guide said discovery Science would be showing a program about the design and construction of the Apollo command module but a completely unrelated program about dark matter played instead. I was able to watch the program about the Apollo module on the OnDemand service that comes with the digital cable service though.

 

[Crazy_Uncle]

I had the same problem today. I set the DVR to record the new Mythbusters, but as I went to watch it I found out I had seen it before. Even the programming guide on the DVR said it was suppose to be the new one, and I had seen an ad today saying there was a new episode tonight. ARGH!!!!!!!!!

 

[splodenode]

this is some bad news

 

[Professor Zoom]

That's GREAT news...I forgot to record last nights episode!

 

[nx1701g]

This is happening on a lot of networks. The Olympics are getting higher ratings than people expected them to get.

 

[Trekker4747]

This is happening on a lot of networks. The Olympics are getting higher ratings than people expected them to get.

But it's just dumb to hype up a new show for a month or better and then pull it at the very last minute. Comemrcials for new Mythbusters episodes ran all day long yesterday, they ran DURING THE REPEAT, they advertised the new episode itself during the first hour of the repeated Pirate special.

There's pulling an episode and delaying and advertising the delay and then there's just doing "covertly" and apparently expecting no one to notice. Discovery gave no notice to regular viewers, the moderator of Mythbuster's forum posted a message less than an hour and a half before the new episode was set to air -posting the info as soon as he found it.

It'd be one thing if they did this delay on Monday and had been advertising it all week but they didn't. Besides? What happened to offering alternative programing? What happened to being the only game in town with something different to offer other than The Olympics? What if you don't want to watch the Olympics? Where do you turn?

Further. Mythbusters is probably DSC's most popular program it may have pulled in higher or better ratings than their other programing this week simply because it was a)Mythbusters b)a new episode and c)THEY'VE BEEN ADVERTISING IT FOR WEEKS!

Also:

FYI: The episode they're air (according to them) in two weeks will be the scheduled Moon Landing Hoax episode. Who knows when this week's Viral Video episode and next week's Ninja Myths: 2 will air.

 

[Crazy_Uncle]

This is happening on a lot of networks. The Olympics are getting higher ratings than people expected them to get.

I wrote the Discovery Channel about this last night just for the fun of it and mentioned the fact that they advertised the new episode shortly before airing a repeat and this was their response.

"Dear Viewer,

Thank you for contacting Discovery Communications. Our family of US
networks include: Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Discovery Health
Channel, Discovery Kids, The Science Channel, Investigation Discovery,
Military Channel, Planet Green, HD Theater, FitTV, Discovery en Espanol and
Discovery Familia. We also distribute BBC America and BBC World in the
United States. We appreciate your interest in our programming.

Program schedules are made available on discovery.com at the beginning of
each month. These schedules are subject to change especially during world
events such as the Olympics and updates are posted as soon as possible.

Your TV Guides or other on-screen guides may not reflect the most recent
schedule changes, because the schedules were sent to your cable or
satellite provider prior to the schedule change.

Please use the "My Discovery" feature on our website at discovery.com to
receive e-mail reminders letting you know when your favorite program is
going to air by selecting the network of you choice.

Thank you again for expressing your interest in our programming."

Nowhere do they acknowledge the fact they had been advertising the new episode on TV, but then again I didn't expect much. Funny thing was I had just gotten a reminder of the new episode airing so I don't trust the whole "My Discovery" feature. Oh well.......

 

[Trekker4747]

Yeah. Looks like a typical form letter.

Way to show your viewers you respect them Discovery.

Advertise a new show for weeks on end and then pull it 90 minutes before you air it, and STILL ADVERTISE THE NEW EPISODE!!!

And, yeah, yeah, the Olympics. Cable programing is supposed to be there as an alternative to network stuff. This should be a prime time for cable viewership as not everyone watches The Olympics.

Further, Mythbusters is their most popular show so it should've gotten better rathings than their program all week has been (presumably) getting.

And, come-on! It's not like they had no way of knowing the Olympics would be on this week!

 

[Warp Coil]

For the record, Discovery didn't pull the show 90 minutes before air - I believe they made the schedule change more than 24 hours before air. The Olympics are doing very well and so they pulled a lot of premieres as a result. I believe it was pretty last-minute. As for the promos, it's entirely possible that the folks who schedule the promos didn't know about the schedule change, or someone simply forgot to update the logs (it happens - trust me, it happens).

 

[Trekker4747]

For the record, Discovery didn't pull the show 90 minutes before air - I believe they made the schedule change more than 24 hours before air. The Olympics are doing very well and so they pulled a lot of premieres as a result. I believe it was pretty last-minute. As for the promos, it's entirely possible that the folks who schedule the promos didn't know about the schedule change, or someone simply forgot to update the logs (it happens - trust me, it happens).

It's still foolish to advertise a new show for weeks on end and then pull it in the last minute. The Olympics may be doing well, but only because of Phelps who wasn't playing opposite Mythbusters and, as I said, Mythbusters is their more popular show. It's possible it's ratings may have been fine opposite the Olympics.

 

[the_wildcard]

In the end, I think we have to understand it's all a business/numbers game to these network execs. I guess it was just a risk they weren't willing to take.