Disappointing Oshkosh 2004 Video on Wings

"Dave Stadt" wrote:
It's frustrating: a network about airplanes that has very little
programming for pilots. It seems they must do very little demographic
research.

No doubt the vast majority of viewers if Discovery Wings are not pilots.

"No doubt?" How do you know? What is their audience size, anyway?

I'm not confident enough to make a "no doubt" assertion, but I'd *bet* their
audience has a larger percentage of pilots than any other cable channel.
--
Dan
C-172RG at BFM

"Dan Luke" wrote in message
...
No doubt the vast majority of viewers if Discovery Wings are not pilots.

"No doubt?" How do you know? What is their audience size, anyway?


I suppose you might equivocate on "vast", but I think there simply aren't
enough pilots to support a channel like that, when you consider that only a
fraction of them are watching the channel. Between pilots who don't watch
TV, who don't get Discovery Wings, who don't know that they get it, and
those who simply get bored with the repetitive programming, I'd be surprised
if even 10% of the total pilot population actually watches. That's only
60,000 people in the US.

I don't know exactly how many people are needed in order to support a
cable/satellite channel like Discovery Wings, but it's got to be at least
twice that. Maybe closer to 500,000 or a million.

I think it's safe to say that, for any viable channel, more non-pilots watch
it than pilots. There simply aren't enough pilots for it to be any other
way.

I'm not confident enough to make a "no doubt" assertion, but I'd *bet*
their
audience has a larger percentage of pilots than any other cable channel.

Now that seems like a reasonably safe bet. Even there, however, you
have to take into account the problem that Discovery Wings *is* very
repetitive. So other channels that might also appeal to pilots, like
Speedvision, or the Action Movie Channel, The Nashville Network, and other
stuff like that, might still draw more of the pilot crowd, due to the
greater variety of programming.

Pete

I suppose you might equivocate on "vast", but I think there simply aren't
enough pilots to support a channel like that, when you consider that only
a
fraction of them are watching the channel.

True, but I'd bet that for every person that achieves their PPC, there are
ten "wannabees" who have the interest, but may not have the money, time or
aptitude.

I know from the interest we have received at our inn, there are a LOT of
aviation enthusiasts out there who don't enjoy the privilege of flight. .
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:G156d.62067$wV.13775@attbi_s54...
True, but I'd bet that for every person that achieves their PPC, there are
ten "wannabees" who have the interest, but may not have the money, time or
aptitude.

Well, I take it as granted that the vast majority (however you define it) of
the Discovery Wings channel are aviation enthusiasts. I don't see how the
channel would appeal to anyone else.

But the original comment was about *pilots* watching the channel, not pilot
wannabes.

Personally, I find it amazing that, even as repetitive and uninteresing the
shows on Discovery Wings are, that the channel survives at all. Imagine how
popular it would be if it were actually *good*.

Pete

"Peter Duniho" wrote:
Personally, I find it amazing that, even as repetitive and uninteresing
the
shows on Discovery Wings are, that the channel survives at all.

That's what makes me think it can do so on a very small audience. I bet
it's ~500k. Their operating budget must be miniscule.

Imagine how
popular it would be if it were actually *good*.

A little creative mgmt. could do it. If they could get half of AOPA's
members to watch regularly, think what that would be worth to advertisers.
--
Dan
C-172RG at BFM