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PLEASE NOTE: The Reality TV World Message Boards are filled with desperate
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"A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals"
sylvester 555 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Reality Show Commentator"
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05-19-06, 03:09 AM (EST)
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"A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
I found this on another board, and thought it was interesting enough to toss it out here and see what everyone thought. I know some don't like to put alot of stock in DialIdol, personally I do. Again, I didn't write this, pulling it over from another board: "The truth is that the phone lines maxed out Tuesday night at 16 million votes for each contestant, and AI knows perfectly well that the numbers they showed only reflect the volume of votes the lines could handle, NOT how many votes were attempted. If sufficient bandwidth had been available to register ALL votes, Taylor would have won by a landslide of about 30 million votes. Here are the real numbers: 50 million total votes, apportioned as follows:
33.68% of 50 million = 16.84 million (Taylor)
33.26% of 50 million = 16.63 million (Kat)
33.06% of 50 million = 16.53 million (Elliott) Assume: (1) the lines maxed out at 16 million phone votes, and (2) all votes above 16 million are text votes. Since DialIdol didn't track the busy percentage for the third lines, I’ll use the LOWER of the two lines, on the assumption that the busy percentage for Line 2 represents the average of the three lines. 100% minus busy % equals % of attempted votes that actually got through:
Taylor 20.2%
Elliott 30.3%
Kat 31.5% To estimate the total number of attempted votes, divide 100 by the percentage above and multiply by 16 million:
Taylor: 79.21 million
Elliott: 52.98 million
Kat: 50.79 million
(In other words, if only 20% of Taylor's votes got through, then 16 million represents only 20% of the total votes attempted, so the real total is about 5 times higher) Adding the text votes to the attempted phone votes, these would have been the results if ALL of the attempted votes were counted: TAYLOR: 80.0 million
ELLIOTT: 53.5 million
KAT: 51.4 million (If 80 million seems like an improbably large number of vote attempts, it would actually only require 4 million people to vote 20 times each, or 133,000 people to hit redail 5 times per minute for the full two hours.) Even if you change the assumptions regarding the percentage of text votes or the percentage of busy signals received, it is still clear that Taylor had tens of millions more attempted votes than Kat. By not providing sufficient bandwidth to allow for ALL votes to count, AI ensures that each contestant will get the same number of phone votes, and the winner will be decided by a small number of text voters. In other words, the winner of AI is not the one the American public liked best, it is one whose fan base coughed up the most money to Cingular. The American Idol Finale is in fact an AUCTION, with the title being sold to the highest bidders. Considering that MSNBC reported tonight the "rumor" that Kat's dad is not only a producer with ties to Fox (supposedly worked on a show with Ryan Seacrest) but is paying a PR firm to vote for Katherine, this is truly scary. Taylor beat Kat by only 200K text votes -- in spite of the fact that his fans logged 30 milllion more vote attempts than her. Mr. McPhee could buy the title for Katherine for a mere $10K."
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singer 1910 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Herbal Healing Drugs Endorser"
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05-19-06, 06:31 AM (EST)
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1. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
LAST EDITED ON 05-19-06 AT 09:19 AM (EST)This article is clearly part of a smear campaign against one of the candidates, especially the unsubstantiated part about Katherine's father. I reject its framework, and I reject it on the merits of the argument. (Kellie Pickler had voting assistance from local merchants who purchased and distributed free cell phones to people so that they would vote for her. Did MSNBC ever talk about THAT?) edited for clarity. --Singer
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sylvester 555 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Reality Show Commentator"
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05-19-06, 11:40 AM (EST)
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8. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
"(Kellie Pickler had voting assistance from local merchants who purchased and distributed free cell phones to people so that they would vote for her. Did MSNBC ever talk about THAT?)"Actually Singer I think they did. I know that news was all over the boards, it's common knowledge. Landlines. There was also a phone bank set up for Elliott in Richmond. Landlines. I don't agree that this has anything to do with a smear campaign. The original post I quoted had a few more comments at the end, but I took them out rather than post them because I was unsure whether that was an MSNBC quote or the poster's comment.
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singer 1910 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Herbal Healing Drugs Endorser"
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05-19-06, 12:35 PM (EST)
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13. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
The "smear" that I allude to addresses unsubstantiated claims about her father being in a position to buy the title for her. There is also a veiled suggestion that he would try. I take issue with that part of the article, because it is unsubstantiated.Discussions about statistical dead heats and margins of error and phone inconsistencies seem fair enough. I have certainly participated in those types of discussions with reference to other candidates. I also have stated that I believe that phone call outcomes can be manipulated, just as national elections can be manipulated. I hold to those positions. --Singer
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mrc 10113 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold"
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05-19-06, 08:12 AM (EST)
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2. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
Can you provide a link, sylvester? That would help provide come context for the article.
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sylvester 555 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Reality Show Commentator"
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05-19-06, 11:50 AM (EST)
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11. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
I took this from a poster on a forum mrc, who projected these numbers himself based on DI raw data.I will try to find quotes on the MSNBC stuff for you though.
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archon 178 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson"
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05-19-06, 08:44 AM (EST)
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3. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
sylvester,From a purely mathematical standpoint, that is a very interesting analysis. I do find it hard to believe that the votes could be that close at this point. DialIdol's busy percentages raise some significant questions as to who is the true popular choice for AI. If only 20% of Taylors calls get through and 30% of Kats calls get through, but they have the same vote total -- Well, that DOES tell you alot about who is more popular. I also think the analysis about Cingular is true. If the phone calls produce a statistical dead-heat, then the Text calls are really making the difference. Perhaps the show can be renamed Cingular Idol  Archon "You can get more with a 2x4 and a kind word than with just a kind word." (Marcus, B5)
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jags 124 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson"
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05-19-06, 08:50 AM (EST)
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4. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
Nice way to obscure what happened. The votes are final live with it.
JAGS
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sylvester 555 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Reality Show Commentator"
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05-19-06, 11:46 AM (EST)
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10. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
Whoa jags, I'm not a disgruntled fan. I have no interest in obscuring results. I think this is an interesting analysis, based on the only real method we have to keep tabs on AI. Before DialIdol it was total speculation, now at least we have something. Just think back to Rueben/Clay. This kind of explanation makes alot of sense.
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aifan2006 25 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Beauty Pageant Celebrity Judge"
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05-19-06, 09:17 AM (EST)
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5. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
Very honestly we saw the phone call totals posted here and I don't really believe AI version of the votes,it does'nt add up, I don't really believe there were 50 million votes cast because in the amount of time allowed, 2 hours east coast, 2 hours west coast I don't think you could even get 50 million votes in. I don't really believe the totals AI gave out on tv, but it makes for good tv and has everyone talking look how close the votes was, my personal belief is AI totals, the only 1 percent different was more fiction then fact but I don't think AI expects anyone to challange them on this and they think it makes great tv.
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EnglProf 888 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Fitness Correspondent"
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05-19-06, 10:35 AM (EST)
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6. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
LAST EDITED ON 05-19-06 AT 10:36 AM (EST)I just don’t get it. I had no problems voting for either Katherine or Taylor. There were some busy signals, sure, but I got through a hell of a lot more than I didn’t. I’d say I got through 90% of the time. So the notion that the vote percentages for Kat, Taylor, and Elliott only reflect all the phone calls that could possibly get through during the voting window seems bogus. I could have called hundreds of more times than I did and gotten through, but I voted as many times as I felt I could handle and then stopped. It seems to me that adding a third line eliminated the “max volume possible” problems. I was only voting on the first line for Kat and Taylor by the way—5702 and 5703. I’m assuming the dialidol didn’t keep track of the THIRD lines 5707, 5708, & 5709, although this may be incorrect. ETF: spelling 
Handcrafted by RollDdice
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Snidget 44369 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold"
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05-19-06, 10:47 AM (EST)
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7. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
I think some of the whole who can get through and who cannot often has to do with your local phone companies capacity to handle the call volume to a few numbers.Some areas with high call volumes to one person (like NC with Clay back in the day) seem to have really big problems with getting through. So just because someone in one area can get through it doesn't mean that the phone system was not swamped out somewhere else. Dial Idol gives a fair feeling for the country-wide getting through thing, but I think there are some areas where virtually no one gets through and other areas where it is easy to get though. That most of these votes end up being won by a hair makes me think that the closeness is because the system is running at capacity over all and that much of the how close it is stems from there are only so many votes that can get through and that there is some randomness in who ends up getting a few more of the limited voting spots through. I can believe 50 million votes. Given the number of people who will hit redial for the entire time and the number of people who watch it makes sense. The system is set up so they get the big vote totals (unlimited voting) and to get close results (short voting time at capacity). That makes good television.
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seahorse 14337 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold"
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05-19-06, 11:44 AM (EST)
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9. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
"I just don’t get it. I had no problems voting for either Katherine or Taylor. There were some busy signals, sure, but I got through a hell of a lot more than I didn’t. I’d say I got through 90% of the time. So the notion that the vote percentages for Kat, Taylor, and Elliott only reflect all the phone calls that could possibly get through during the voting window seems bogus."The percentage of times one can get through are definitely dictated by where you are casting your vote. I hit redial for two hours straight for Elliot and got through less than 10% of the time. I also believe that the phone system is maxed out and the votes will always be close even if the vast majority clearly likes one of the contestants. That contestant will get many many more busy signals to his or her numbers. The best way for the votes to reflect what the actual calls reflect is to have everyone dial the same numbers and then if you get through you can hit a 1 for contestant #1, a 2 for contestant #2, and so forth. This would result in votes being actually cast in close proportion to the number of calls actually attempted for each contestant. Thus if the actual attempts were 50% for contestant #1
30% for contestant #2
20% for contestant #3 the votes would be in similar proportions rather than each voter getting approximately an equal percentage of the votes.
Slice & Dice Sigpic Chop Shop 2005
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sylvester 555 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Reality Show Commentator"
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05-19-06, 11:53 AM (EST)
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12. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
Seahorse, I actually think that's a great idea.
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mrc 10113 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold"
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05-19-06, 02:41 PM (EST)
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14. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
Good idea, seahorse.
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Devious Weasel 18756 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold"
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05-19-06, 04:19 PM (EST)
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17. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
LAST EDITED ON 05-19-06 AT 04:21 PM (EST)It only improves things if the problems are in Idol's telephony system. If the problems are in the telephony system where the calls are placed (and see my post below for why I think they are), Seahorse's solution does nothing to improve the situation. After all, it's not like we can force local telephone companies to upgrade their systems for approximately two hours of severe usage spikes that occur only once a week for 14 weeks every year. That's just over a day of usage spikes compared to whatever capacity they need the other 364 days a year. 
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PagongRatEater 12996 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold"
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05-19-06, 04:44 PM (EST)
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18. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
You make some valid points. Just as someone who has spent the last 10 years in telecom, I would have to think that the bottle-neck is where the 50M votes are being aggregated, rather than through the local phone system. Even if that were the case, the easiest (though somewhat costly) solution would be to have regional or even statewide POPS that aggregate the call volume there, rather than having all of the toll-free numbers pointed to the same single aggregation point.I've always just thought that the VAST number of busy's that are recieved when you call - I tried for the first time this week and never actually got through - that you just don't get a terribly accurate count because the capacity limitations act as an equalizer, as evidenced by this weeks vote totals. And in which case the TEXT voters actually end up crowning the idol. 
But, the four of us had a great time.
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Devious Weasel 18756 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold"
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05-19-06, 04:14 PM (EST)
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16. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
What a load. What a big, fat load. Here’s why:First, this doesn’t take into account Dial Idol’s raw numbers. This might be the most serious flaw in this person’s theory. If there really were millions of Taylor votes that didn’t get counted, then there should be more raw Dial Idol votes for Taylor that didn’t get counted than there were raw Dial Idol votes for Kat and Elliott that didn’t get counted. Is that actually the case? No. Here are the raw numbers: Kat Line 2: 163,768 votes cast of which 112,103 got a busy signal and 51,665 got through
Elliott Line 2: 146,287 votes cast of which 102,053 got a busy signal and 44,234 got through Kat Line 1: 145,582 votes cast, of which 105,699 got a busy signal and 39,883 got through Elliott Line 1: 120,649 votes cast of which 86,509 got a busy signal and 34,140 got through Taylor Line 2: 118,382 votes cast of which 94,528 got a busy signal and 23,854 got through Taylor Line 1: 111,002 votes cast of which 91,577 got a busy signal and 19,425 got through So this theory fails the first, most basic test. Do the raw scores support it? No. Not at all. But, I hear some of you asking, the raw data would suggest that Taylor should have been the one voted off. How can this be! Well, two possibilities. First, if Taylor were actually the second place vote getter instead of Kat, then the slight difference between the number of raw calls Taylor got and the number of raw calls Elliott got could be explained by text messages in favor of Taylor over text messages in favor of Elliott. Or, another possibility, is that DIAL IDOL HAS NO PREDICTIVE VALUE WHATSOEVER!!!!!!!!! Busy signals alone tell us nothing. Nothing. NOTHING. There are far too many other factors at play for busy signals to have any sort of predictive value. Further complicating this is the fact that Dial Idol is an opt-in system. Dial Idol is only measuring calls for people who choose to use the Dial Idol software. It does not measure the results the rest of the country is getting. The raw data shows that a little over 210,000 votes were cast through Dial Idol on six of the nine lines. (Dial Idol was not operational on the other three lines.) Therefore, Dial Idol was measuring less than half of a percent of the total volume, and it wasn’t a random measurement, it was a self-selected measurement. Second, the theory suggests that the Idol phone systems were operating at capacity and that each line maxed out the number of votes it could handle. Now, we know that this week set a new vote record for a non-finale week. But it did not set a new record overall. More votes are received for the finale than were received last week. Why is that important? I’ll get to that. When you do contact center capacity planning, you estimate the number of calls you are going to get, then figure out how much capacity you need to handle those calls. Once that is done, you multiply your capacity estimate by some factor to ensure you are able to handle unpredicted surges in calls. The goal is to never leave yourself short – to always have more capacity on hand than what you believe you are going to need. Once you’ve reached that factored-up capacity, you figure out what you need by way of lines, switches, routers, etc. to handle the capacity. Once you’ve done that, you set up your telephony system appropriately. With Idol, I wouldn’t be surprised (though I don’t know for a fact) if they had capacity to handle double their estimated volume. Why? Because the hardware and software needed to handle that sort of capacity is dirt-cheap. (The biggest cost driver in contact center work is human beings – the operators used to answer the phones. With Idol, there are no human operators.) The lines, switches, routers, etc. needed to handle over 100 million calls is probably only in the $500,000 to $1,000,000 range. (Keep in mind, Idol usage is limited to 8 hours a week for three weeks and 4 hours a week for eleven weeks – 68 total hours a year.) The absolute simplest way to handle this capacity is to set your system up at the start of each year and then never touch it again. There would be no good reason to do an initial system set-up with smaller capacity than you will need by the time the finale rolls around. The hassle (and extra cost) involved in increasing your capacity for the finale would far outweigh any cost savings there might be for having less capacity earlier in the season. In other words, the phone lines do not max out. Ever. That’s not to say there are never capacity issues. But the capacity issues are not in the telephony system where calls are received; they are in the individual telephony systems where calls are placed, systems Idol and Fox have no control over whatsoever. There are two reasons for a busy signal. A busy signal could be caused by capacity issues with the telephony system where the call is received or it could be caused by capacity issues in the telephony system where the call is placed. For the reasons stated above, I believe that the Idol telephony system not only has capacity it has never used, it has capacity it has never come close to using. It would be relatively cheap for them to have that much capacity, not to mention just being a good basic business idea. The busy signals that people experience are busy signals due to capacity issues where calls are placed. Because of that, there is no way to extrapolate out and assume that calls that resulted in a busy signal were predominantly votes for Taylor that didn’t get counted. These are the most important objections to the theory. A third objection doesn’t have as much to do with the theory as it does with the reasoning why such a faulty conclusion was reached. The person assumes Taylor was in first place. There is no factual basis for this assumption. Fox never told us who was in first place. All we know is that Elliott was in third place. By making this assumption, the writer immediately displays their bias. This is yet another person who has difficulty accepting the fact that Taylor is not the most popular thing since sliced bread. This person, like many of Taylor’s fans, cannot accept what many of us have been saying all along, that there was an equal amount of support for all three contestants. Therefore, shenanigans had to occur. The vote totals were evenly matched between the three contestants because the votes cast were evenly matched between the three contestants. It’s not a system issue, not due to busy signals, not due to anything other than the fact that the talent level between the three contestants was very evenly matched. It will be a close vote this week as well, because the talent levels between Taylor and Kat are very evenly matched. At this point, a victory by either contestant should not be a surprise. (Though I can guarantee that, if Kat should win, the number of “Taylor was robbed” threads will make the number of “Chris was robbed” seem small indeed. That’s because Taylor fans, like whoever it was that did this “statistical analysis”, can not conceive of the possibility of Taylor losing.)
With regards to the unfair and unsubstantiated comments about Kat’s father, if he has ties to Fox, then she should be disqualified because she is not eligible for the competition. Here is the appropriate wording from the Idol Audition Form: Employees, shareholders, officers, directors, agents, representatives, and their immediate family members and those living in the same household of Fox Broadcasting Company, American Idol Productions, Inc., FremantleMedia North America, Inc., 19 TV Ltd., CKX (and its parent, affiliates, subsidiaries, and/or designees), AT&T, Telescope, the record company that will partner with Producer (as chosen by Producer in its sole discretion), production personnel for the television program, participating television stations, advertising agencies, corporate sponsors or any person or entity connected with the production, administration or judging of the auditions, or any of their respective parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, agents or representatives are not eligible. Does anyone truly believe Fox would waive this requirement for Kat? Strike that. Let me rephrase. The thinking of anyone who truly believes Fox would waive this requirement for Kat is suspect. Why would they? What benefit would accrue to them? Just as with vote rigging, the negative impact of Fox waiving this requirement far, far, FAR, outweighs any positive gain they might receive.
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SeniorCitizen 57 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Hollywood Squares Square"
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05-19-06, 05:27 PM (EST)
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19. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
Well analyzed. The story about Kat's father smelled fishy the first I heard it. I'm glad you provided the wording that closes the issue. I question all the stories that are appearing in the media that hold the McFees up to ridicule. They remind me of the ridicule handed out to Taylor about his twitchy moves and amateur dancing. I am really looking forward to the final show. With the strange mix of judges, and yes, even if she doesn't intend to be so, Paula is clearly kept for comic relief, the very different performance styles of the contestants, and the heated atmosphere of charge and counter-charge by fans, including disgruntled remnants of the fans of other contestants, it will be quite entertaining, and we could hear some good music too.
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sylvester 555 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Reality Show Commentator"
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05-19-06, 06:13 PM (EST)
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20. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
LAST EDITED ON 05-19-06 AT 06:19 PM (EST)"These are the most important objections to the theory. A third objection doesn’t have as much to do with the theory as it does with the reasoning why such a faulty conclusion was reached. The person assumes Taylor was in first place. There is no factual basis for this assumption. Fox never told us who was in first place. All we know is that Elliott was in third place. By making this assumption, the writer immediately displays their bias. This is yet another person who has difficulty accepting the fact that Taylor is not the most popular thing since sliced bread. This person, like many of Taylor’s fans, cannot accept what many of us have been saying all along, that there was an equal amount of support for all three contestants. Therefore, shenanigans had to occur." DW, Ryan said on his radio show yesterday that Taylor was indeed the top vote getter. I believe you're showing your bias again. Kat's father was involved with Fox, as a producer, some time back. He was involved in a New Year's Eve show featuring Ryan Seacrest. I will bring you over the facts, give me a few minutes, I'm cooking supper too. Edited to add: I don't believe anyone is saying Mr. McPhee is a current Fox employee, but he has worked for Fox in the past.
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TODDLJ 421 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Daytime Soap Guest Star"
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05-19-06, 07:02 PM (EST)
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21. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
Because he worked for Fox in the past he can somehow control vote totals?Anyone who has parents who ever worked in TV should be disqualified? Ridiculous. Kat's 'advantage' here is no greater than Paris' grandmother's ties to the music biz. Or Lisa's professional theatre credits.
(I work for Disney... so now can I control who is cast on Desparate Housewives?)
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sylvester 555 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Reality Show Commentator"
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05-20-06, 00:22 AM (EST)
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22. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
LAST EDITED ON 05-20-06 AT 00:23 AM (EST)Todd, I don't think Kat should be disqualified. The only people I've seen saying that are some very disgruntled Chris & Elliott fans. They are emailing this stuff to tv & radio stations. As I said above, I haven't seen anyone insinuate that her father is currently associated with Fox. There have been a couple of things bouncing around the internet. I'm still working on pinning down facts, but one of the things that keeps popping up is that he was a producer on a couple of Incredible Hulk movies or TV shows in the late 80's (almost 20 years ago). Her mother was an extra on them also. They were produced by New World Television, which is owned by Fox. I don't however, see that as a big deal, it was a loooong time ago. The one I'm still working on is something that was talked about within the last couple of days on an MSNBC program, by Maria Molito (sp?). She said Mr. McPhee was possibly involved with ##### Clark Productions in the production of a New Year's Rockin' Eve program. This past year, Ryan Seacrest was one of the hosts of that program. I believe I read that ##### Clark Productions is also owned by Fox? Something like that anyway. It may take me awhile to get at the truth, but I'm working on it. I'll post more when I get to the bottom of it. Edited to say I had no idea I couldn't type the name D i c k, lol.
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Devious Weasel 18756 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold"
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05-22-06, 12:08 PM (EST)
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30. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
DW, Ryan said on his radio show yesterday that Taylor was indeed the top vote getter. I believe you're showing your bias again. I don’t care who wins either way. The main thing I see in favor of Kat winning is the entertainment value of the “Taylor was robbed” threads that would be posted. But do you know for a fact that the person who wrote this knew Ryan had said Taylor was the top vote getter? And do you really think calling out this one point matters in the total analysis? Kat's father was involved with Fox, as a producer, some time back. He was involved in a New Year's Eve show featuring Ryan Seacrest. I will bring you over the facts, give me a few minutes, I'm cooking supper too. Edited to add: I don't believe anyone is saying Mr. McPhee is a current Fox employee, but he has worked for Fox in the past. Again, unless there is some indication that he is currently associated with Fox (and, as such, that Kat should be disqualified), then any associations he may have had with Fox (or Seacrest) in the past don’t matter a bit. It’s yet another attempt by Taylor fans to discredit Kat and her success. (And maybe Taylor fans aren’t saying Kat should be disqualified, but Taylor fans are among those saying Kat’s success is suspect because of this.) After all, why even bring this up unless the intent is to discredit Kat? What purpose does it serve otherwise? And again, like I said in my first post, does any rational person truly believe Fox would not only waive the requirement for Kat, but use any relationships with her father as a basis to work with him to push her on through?
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zazzy 4390 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Jerry Springer Show Guest"
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05-20-06, 10:25 AM (EST)
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25. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
"Because the hardware and software needed to handle that sort of capacity is dirt-cheap. (The biggest cost driver in contact center work is human beings – the operators used to answer the phones. With Idol, there are no human operators.) The lines, switches, routers, etc. needed to handle over 100 million calls is probably only in the $500,000 to $1,000,000 range. (Keep in mind, Idol usage is limited to 8 hours a week for three weeks and 4 hours a week for eleven weeks – 68 total hours a year.) The absolute simplest way to handle this capacity is to set your system up at the start of each year and then never touch it again. There would be no good reason to do an initial system set-up with smaller capacity than you will need by the time the finale rolls around. The hassle (and extra cost) involved in increasing your capacity for the finale would far outweigh any cost savings there might be for having less capacity earlier in the season. In other words, the phone lines do not max out. Ever."
DW....or anyone who knows telcom...I thought companies who bought 866# line capacity were charged on some sort of per call basis. Are the numbers you provided the cost of the phone company providing the lines? Would Fox have to pay for each 866# call or do they negotiate some sort of package rate?
If it is soooo inexpensive for FOX, why don't they haveeven more lines open when the capacity constraints issues are raised? Earlier Chris fans reported constraints....and this past week all fans reported constraints. I have not voted after F12 until this past week...and it was nearly solidly busy. Are you saying the busy signals I was receiving was my local phone system's constraint....and not Idol's? If so, why do even cell phone calls get busy signals? They are on a different network than landline calls on the way to FOX....or are you suggesting that every cell network is equally plugged up with calls on the beginning end too? What about VOIP calls? Wouldn't they see a bottleneck only at the FOX end? I can understand some areas being saturated with calls--like Richmond, Birmingham, top rated AI watching markets. But the cry about busy signals seems to come from nearly everywhere (except whereever englprof lives ;) . I still wonder about FOX being capacity constrained due to watching their budgets. I would like to see FOX belly up this week and provide at least 6 lines each for the finalists--that's 12 lines, the same they had to have for the F12. Coupled with the four hour voting window that should help...somewhat. Let's have another "how's the voting going" thread on Tuesday night--and maybe people can give hourly updates on percent busy signals. FWIW, when I tried to vote for Bo last year, I could distintly hear different types of busy signals on different call attempts. One was the ordinary busy signal you get when you call your mom and she is already on the line and she does not have call waiting. The next was a 'far away' sounding busy signal that came on the line after a little delay. And the last I recall was a 'fast-busy' signal, the kind that suggests your call can not even go through because all circuits are busy. Do all of these types of busy signals suggest local phone company constraints...or only one or two of the three? I thought that only the 'fast-busy' was indicative of the local phone system being at capacity and the other two were about the other end--the FOX end.
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Snidget 44369 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold"
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05-20-06, 10:57 AM (EST)
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26. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
LAST EDITED ON 05-20-06 AT 11:03 AM (EST)Some news stories on past voting issues that talk about local backups. http://www.sptimes.com/2004/05/20/Artsandentertainment/To_vote__American___p.shtml oops something inthe URL is blocked by the filter... is a letter to the FCC that discusses differences in problems getting through from various networks and such. let me see if I can work around that Here is the google search link that puts that letter at the top click the first link
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zazzy 4390 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Jerry Springer Show Guest"
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05-20-06, 01:20 PM (EST)
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27. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
Thank you for the info!As time goes by I remember that there were phone problems with Clay and Ruben but have forgotten the specifics. This is a very long letter with lots of specifics by phone company, landline and cell phone, etc.--it reminds us of what we are in for on Tuesday night. It shows that there are phone capacity problems at the FOX end of the transaction and suggests that it is beneficial to FOX/AI owners to have the contest be so close so there are "two winners". Seems like we are on track for that again this year. http://www.#####.com/columns/fccltrf.htm Sigh. Seems like it all comes down to money one way or another, doesn't it? That's why we have tv anyway--so the producers and advertisers make money. This would not be any different.
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zazzy 4390 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Jerry Springer Show Guest"
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05-20-06, 01:22 PM (EST)
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28. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
Now that was weird. Why did I get ##### signs in the link?Here is the part that the ### signs left out--I will put spaces in between each letter--so just take them out: d l d e w e y
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Devious Weasel 18756 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold"
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05-22-06, 02:58 PM (EST)
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31. "RE: A closer look at Wednesday's vote totals" |
DW....or anyone who knows telcom...I thought companies who bought 866# line capacity were charged on some sort of per call basis. Are the numbers you provided the cost of the phone company providing the lines? Would Fox have to pay for each 866# call or do they negotiate some sort of package rate?They pay a per call rate, but (generally speaking) the rate goes down the more calls you process. They may be at the top of the discount chain, though. If it is soooo inexpensive for FOX, why don't they have even more lines open when the capacity constraints issues are raised? I would like to see FOX belly up this week and provide at least 6 lines each for the finalists--that's 12 lines, the same they had to have for the F12. Coupled with the four hour voting window that should help...somewhat. I don’t know for a fact, but I would suspect they see a sharp drop off in the volume of calls across the three lines. I imagine they get most calls on the first line, a smaller percentage on the second line, and an even smaller percentage on the fourth line. (Basing that just on the human tendency for most people to dial the first number they see instead of the second or third.) I imagine they have calculated that the drop off in calls from a third to fourth line doesn’t warrant opening a fourth line. In thinking about what PRE said, there are probably some issues occurring where calls are aggregated that are causing busy signal issues. It makes sense that there would be issues up and down the telephony chain, and I would like to modify my post in that regard. But I don’t think it’s the case that the Fox/Idol telephony system sets up an arbitrary cap on the number of votes a contestant receives. There is no reason to do that. I can understand some areas being saturated with calls--like Richmond, Birmingham, top rated AI watching markets. But the cry about busy signals seems to come from nearly everywhere (except whereever englprof lives ;) Except all we have is anecdotal evidence. It would be interesting for someone to set up a controlled study, from locations throughout the country, wherein participants dial the exact same set of numbers at the exact same times and measure the results. But message board postings, even a lot of message board postings, and Internet letters and comments still don’t amount to a controlled study of the question. Do all of these types of busy signals suggest local phone company constraints...or only one or two of the three? I thought that only the 'fast-busy' was indicative of the local phone system being at capacity and the other two were about the other end--the FOX end. As the one link suggests, there are also busy signals that occur when calls are transferred from one network to another (local network to long distance network). With regards to the link to the syndicated columnist. Wow. Well, I can say without a doubt that at least one of his statements regarding the web of media working to increase profits by keeping the vote totals close is wrong. He says RTL also owns book publishers Penquin, Putnam Viking. Penguin has been owned by Pearson PLC since the 1980s. Putnam and Viking have been owned by Penguin since 1996. I work for a company that has been owned by Pearson PLC since 2000. His other connections read more like the fevered dream of a conspiracy theorist than checked facts. I guess to me the key question is this: what exactly does Fox/Idol have to gain by having a close vote? You make this statement suggests that it is beneficial to FOX/AI owners to have the contest be so close so there are "two winners". and the author says It has created additional sales of pitting Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken fans against one another in the market place in regards to the purchasing of CD's and other marketable merchandise. It appears by the marketing hype that having this controversy of who the real winner was/is exploited like this and by having "two" winners so to speak has only has put more dollars into the hands of these corporations at the unknowing expense of the American viewer. but how exactly does this put more money into the hands of the corporations at play? Are more people really going to be tuning in this week because the vote was close last week? If you haven’t already been watching, are you going to start now? If you were watching and your favorite is gone, will you still watch just because the vote was close? How does a close vote equate to greater CD sales? And if the American viewer really didn’t know that corporations make money off of Idol, doesn’t that make the American viewer a bit of a twit?
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Biffster 21 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Got Milk? Spokesperson"
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05-20-06, 00:51 AM (EST)
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23. "Personally, I think it's the little green men" |
LAST EDITED ON 05-20-06 AT 00:56 AM (EST)
Personally, I think it's the little green men. A virus has wiped out all the talented entertainers on their planet, and they're currently scouring the galaxy for replacements. They've been picking up the AI satellite signal on their ship parked just on the dark side of the moon. Since they like (and resemble somewhat) both Chris and Elliott (won't even go for the cheap "phone home" thing), they didn't want either of them to be tied up in an extended AI contract, so they downloaded DialIdol and have been calling via satellite phone to make sure neither of them made it to the final round. It's too bad. I was looking forward to an Elliott recording or two.
Now, decisions, decisions. Would the little green folks back home like the spastic-dancing, let-the-good-times-roll, make your momma feel good performance of Taylor, or Kat's off-kilter Barbie Doll with pipes? I gotta say the aliens are gonna want Taylor, because he reminds them of their drunken uncles at a family wedding too, so they'll be voting for Kat. In this crazy mixed up universe, you never know. And if Kat wins, you'd better lock the cows in the barn and take out a lot of crop insurance on the corn.
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sylvester 555 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Reality Show Commentator"
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05-20-06, 03:36 AM (EST)
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24. "RE: Personally, I think it's the little green men" |
Is that you Paula?
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