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Conference ljsrv1::tv_chatter

Title:The TV Chatter Notes Conference
Notice:Welcome to TV Chatter :-)
Moderator:PASTA::PIERCE
Created:Wed Dec 16 1992
Last Modified:Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:498
Total number of notes:5416

420.0. "Ever hear of pre-season screenings by "Television Preview"?" by VMSSPT::CURTIS (Dick "Aristotle" Curtis) Sun Jan 14 1996 21:42

    Anyone out there ever hear of "Television Preview", based in
    Evansville, Indiana (well, their return address is a P.O. box there)?
    
    Received a letter from them, along with admission for 4 (>16 years old)
    to screen and offer opinions about "1/2 hour television segments
    (including programs and commercials)" -- apparently to try to weed out
    the real duds.
    
    I'm not sure how tight the demographics are, since they ask in a
    postscript that recipients who can't make it should pass the tickets
    to the screening on "to friends or relatives you feel could contribute
    worthwhile input".
    
    Dick
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420.1ODIXIE::MOREAUKen Moreau;Technical Support;FloridaSun Jan 14 1996 22:0025
RE: .0

>    to screen and offer opinions about "1/2 hour television segments
>    (including programs and commercials)" -- apparently to try to weed out
                         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I don't know if it is the same outfit, but I received a similar offer a
few years ago.  We happened to not have anything to do that evening, so
we did it as a lark.

It became *VERY* obvious *VERY* quickly that the focus was on the
commercials, and the program was just there as a filler.  I mean, when
the questionnaire was 20 questions, of which *none* were on the program
and the rest (ie, all) were on the products for which they were giving
away free samples, the program itself was an obvious one-joke loser, 
and there were 3-4 different commercials per product, it didn't take
a rocket scientist to figure out what the sponsors were interested in.

But it was moderately interesting to see what kinds of things are being
thought up by the big brains on Madison Avenue (ie, if you think the ads
that get on the air are poor, try some of the stuff which is rejected by
the focus groups: embarrassingly bad), and we got some free stuff which 
we found useful, so all in all it was ok.

-- Ken Moreau
420.2Don't bother, waste of time...LEXS01::KEEFETue Jan 16 1996 15:0817
    Don't bother,  my boyfriend and I were free on a Tuesday night and
    decided to check it out.  As mentioned in reply #1 its focus was
    on the commercials.  It was about two hours long and exceedingly 
    boring.  The shows were a joke.  All of the questions were on your
    impresssions of the products that were in the preview shows.  And
    get this even the preview pilot shows had more commercials that
    shows now on TV.  They did not even offer any coffee or soft drinks
    and there were no free samples at all.  There were a couple of door
    prizes but that only went to two people whose names were drawn from
    a hat.  I would say even if you had the choice of going to one of 
    these previews,or getting a bikini wax  the time is better spent
    and probably less painful getting the wax.
    
    Give the tickets to someone you are not too fond of, its a real
    get even scenerio....If you get my drift.
    
    Donna