There are certain situations when networks will opt to black out, either due to atrocious weather, a sports blackout, or simply because the network doesn't have content to run through the night. However, these blackouts are generally short, irregular and almost never happen because a TV channel wants to persuade people to stop watching TV. Regardless, that's exactly what happened this weekend in Great Britain, when ITV shut off its channel on Saturday morning.
If you happened to tune in to ITV on Saturday morning around 9:30 you were probably greeted with the following message:
We've gone running -- why don't you join us?
The blackout lasted for an entire hour from 9:30 to 10:30.
The Daily Express says the blackout on all seven ITV channels occurred because the network wanted to celebrate the country's success at the 2016 Rio Olympics. They made the move to cut out TV content as part of a movement called "I Am Team GB." In addition, the blackout served a dual purpose of asking its viewers to get up off their bums and outside to do some sort of activity. It's sort of like Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign, but obviously shorter and with financial ramifications. In fact, it's pretty ballsy to just pull content off of seven channels for an entire hour, losing who knows how many advertising dollars in the process.
The blackout lasted for an entire hour and some people really seemed to get into it, heading out into public to go for walks or runs as part of the theme. Others, of course, found a way to generate a few laughs, cracking jokes about DVRing the blackout.
Early in the morning on a Saturday seems like a good time to try something like this, as weekend mornings aren't exactly primetime for television. Lots of people choose to spend their Saturday mornings running errands or getting a little exercise; so, it's not like ITV lost out on primetime-esque ratings. Plus, it's fair to say ITV has generated a ton of free press as a result of the unusual decision. Untold numbers of articles have been written, and it seems everyone has an opinion on whether this was brilliant/ preachy/ pointless/ hilarious/ whatever other adjective you want to throw in.
No word yet on what ITV may decide to do this coming weekend, but something tells me a higher number of people than usual will tune in to find out.
