Channel 90's New Look / Survey Results

If you were checking out Channel 90 last week during at any time when games weren’t being shown, you probably saw a new look for what I call the splash screen. The splash screen is our way of running upcoming schedules / community events, current weather conditions and other items. The change was 100% the work of our employee Chris Tronnes, who wanted to come up with a better and more eye appealing layout. He did a such a good job, that we swapped the new look with our tired look and feel on Channel 7, the community channel.  Take a look at Channel 90 sometime and tell Chris what you think by emailing info@mitchelltelecom.com.

Also over the past couple weeks, we’ve been asking our customers what they thought about our coverage on Channel 90. Our goal was to learn more about the use of the programming and how we might be able to improve the overall service. You can view the complete results here: http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e5jghw4lgxxdsqta/results -- otherwise, here’s some highlights…

The top graph shows the engagement we receive from our customer base for Channel 90. About 90% of customers watch the Channel each month, with a bulk of the viewers (roughly 38%) watching 1 – 3 events during the month. A sizable group (28%) watches 4 – 6 events each month and another 23% watches 7 or more events. That is much more engagement than I think we could have anticipated.

On the next two graphics, you’ll also see that while the coverage for the Kernels (83%), Tigers (60%), State Tournaments (68%) and City Council (42%) is all highly watched, it is the Kernel coverage that our customers really love – over half the responses said it was their favorite! I would have expected the Kernels to be somewhat of a fan favorite, but that margin surprised me.
Of note, our annual expanded State Tournament Coverage started this past weekend with State Gymnastics. We’ll also have State ‘AA’ Wrestling this week (Friday & Saturday) on Channel 91.

The fourth graphic shows what other programming options the respondents would like to see added to Channel 90. While there were a number of options that scored well, finding additional programming from our schools was the top option (43%). We’ll make this more of a priority going forward.

While we’re here, we do have some non-Mitchell High School Basketball in the upcoming weeks from the Corn Palace. We’ll be providing live coverage of the District 11B & 12B District Tournament (Boys & Girls), the Region 5B (Girls) Championship and the Region 6B (Boys & Girls) Championship. Check your guide for dates and times.

Also, this summer we’ll be rolling out coverage of the Mitchell Parks & Recreation Youth Baseball and Softball leagues.

We also asked respondents on what they would change or improve about our Channel 90 coverage. The only common response focused on audio issues (no game announcers, low audio from the City Council). We’re tracking those items currently and working on a solution to provide a more consistent experience regardless of where we broadcast. We’ve received some of that feedback through customer calls, but this provided some specific examples that should allow us to improve the signal.