Shifting channels

I few weeks ago I listened to a presentation at the annual congres of the Stichting Marketing of Patrick Tillieux COO of the TV holding ProSiebenSat1 and was rather shocked by his revelations. His presentation was on the globalisation of the TV industry and was referring to a program format bought from a US channel. The program, "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?", was put on air in various European countries. The audience metrics indicated that the program was no success in most countries. The channels' audience was reduced to one third when the program started! Just imagine that from one moment to the other readership plummets with 70%.
Also simple phrases can make viewers shift channels. Dutch research demonstrates clearly the impact of for example a journalist covering daily politics. When he says in a life program " Well, nothing really exciting happened today" viewers zap "en masse". A very floating and expensive audience indeed.