32 million viewers in one evening. In the scale of web analytics, getting 32 million visitors in a few hours would be amazing. In big time TV broadcasts though, it's rather disappointing. Especially if it's for the Oscars. There were evidently high hopes as ABC was selling 30 second spots at over $1.8 million.
I was one of those 32 million, but in all honesty I wasn't really paying attention. It was just kind of on in the background. There were no crazy Oscars moments that stood out this year. I even twittered my dissatisfaction with the broadcast.
Part of the reason was probably that I really didn't see many of the big nominated movies this year except for Juno and Sweeney Todd (both of which I loved). It seemed like it was really only 4 other movies that were pretty much nominated in every other category.
But still I think the main reason really lies within the writer's strike. Sure the strike is over, but I think over the last few weeks, people started to diverge their behavior slightly. With no new shows, people got bored with TV. I know I did. When at home on the computer I'm usually on the couch in front of the TV. But lately I've been there with the TV off. Instead, I opt for music or silence. TV got boring. There was no new content. And because of this, I just really wasn't ready yet to watch.
How does this relate to user experience on the web? Fresh content is necessary if you want people to return to your site. People will not consistently return to your site and engage themselves if they're looking at the same old thing time and again. Freshen the content, freshen the design. Make the experience new and exciting again. Or people might just get bored.
