Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Streaming 2020 Olympics: Confusion 1, NBC 0

Comcast's NBC Universal, which has been the exclusive broadcaster of the Olympic Games for years, has a ratings problem with the Tokyo Games.  

Here are the two reasons why I believe ratings are down:

1. NBC is not practicing Strategic Simplicity®.  The viewing choices are complex enough to cause people to experience paralysis by analysis.  There are too many options.  Some sports are streaming on Peacock, some are broadcast on NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, USA Network, etc.

2. The games are in a very far time zone.  In the old days, you could not learn the results until you watched the rebroadcast during American prime time.  Today, results are available instantly on websites, news feeds and, in many cases, pushed to your devices.  It's hard to be interested in watching a sport when you already know the outcome, particularly if the team/athletes you are rooting for lost.

These problems are not going away, because multiple streaming/broadcast options and instant updates are now part of life.

© 2021 Praveen Puri

Saturday, July 24, 2021

Problems With AI

A recent Associated Press article I read in the Chicago Tribune called attention to the AI problems faced by the moderator of a New York gardening group on Facebook.

Facebook's algorithm sometimes flags the word "hoe" as "violating community standards."  

Another post had commenting automatically disabled because of "possible violence, incitement, or hate in multiple comments."  This was because one comment talked about killing Japanese beetles.

The worry for the moderator is that, if there are to many violations, the whole group could get shut down.

The question for businesses: Is your AI and automation helping your customers, or making their life difficult?

© 2021 Praveen Puri