Today's update introduces the first major overhaul of the viewer system.
Audience Flow now makes your programming lineup matter, Station Momentum tracks short-term audience excitement, and program performance is measured against each title's own history.
We've also added a new Viewer Trends dashboard that explains why your demographics are changing.
Audience Flow — Smarter Lead-Ins
The old flat lead-in system has been replaced with Audience Flow.
Viewer flow between programs now considers:
Genre compatibility — similar genres retain more viewers
Demographic overlap — compatible audiences transition more naturally
Previous performance — successful programs pass stronger audiences forward
A Reality show followed by another Reality show will maintain a strong flow, while a sudden transition from Horror to Kids can cause a significant drop.
The resulting lead-in multiplier ranges from 0.90× to 1.15×, keeping lineup construction important without allowing lead-ins to overpower the content itself.
Empty Gaps Break Audience Flow
Advertising slots no longer count as gaps — viewers continue through the program block.
However, empty broadcast slots do break the flow.
One empty slot significantly weakens the next program's lead-in, while two or more empty slots reset the lead-in entirely.
Empty gaps can also trigger a "Broadcast gap broke momentum" event, reducing your Station Momentum.
Station Momentum
A new Station Momentum system tracks your station's short-term excitement on a scale from -100 to +100.
Momentum affects your audience from 0.90× at its lowest to 1.20× at its highest.
Six levels track your current state:
Cold → Slipping → Steady → Building → Hot → Must-Watch
Momentum increases when programs perform well, strong lead-ins continue through your schedule, and premieres or flagship programs succeed.
It can fall when programs underperform, transitions are weak, or empty gaps break your broadcast flow.
Momentum is limited to a ±15 daily change and naturally moves 15% toward neutral each day, making it something you need to maintain rather than permanently accumulate.
Program Performance Now Uses History
Program performance is now evaluated when the content finishes and compared against the title's own recent performance.
The system looks at the title's previous five airings to determine whether the current broadcast genuinely overperformed or underperformed.
A first airing has no history to compare against, so it starts with a neutral performance result.
Performance Is Separated From Scheduling
Lead-in, Station Momentum, and ad enjoyment are now removed from the performance calculation.
This means a program isn't considered successful simply because it received a strong lead-in or had fewer advertisements.
A Strong Performance event now means the content itself attracted more viewers than its recent history.
Performance results range from Very Poor to Excellent, with separate momentum effects based on the result.
Viewer Trends Dashboard
A new Viewer Trends dashboard brings the entire system together.
You can now see:
Current Station Momentum
Recent momentum events
Demographic trends
Audience changes compared with your recent average
Explanations for why each demographic is rising or falling
The dashboard can identify factors such as strong genre combinations, successful prime-time programming, high loyalty, weak content affinity, churn, empty gaps, or underperforming shows.
Instead of simply showing that your audience changed, it helps explain why.
Save & Load Improvements
Viewer-system data now persists correctly across saves, including:
Current Station Momentum
Program airing history
Recent audience data
Mid-program viewer tracking
Saving during a program and loading later will continue the airing normally, with the final performance evaluation triggered when the content finishes.
Existing saves are migrated automatically with neutral starting values for the new systems.
Why a Viewer System Overhaul?
The previous viewer model allowed scheduling factors such as lead-ins and ad load to influence how program quality was evaluated.
The new system separates these elements into three distinct areas:
Audience Flow determines how viewers move between programs.
Station Momentum tracks your station's short-term excitement.
Program Performance determines whether your content is actually outperforming its own history.
The result is a viewer system where good programming matters more, strong schedules are rewarded, and poor decisions have visible consequences.
The new Viewer Trends dashboard then gives you the information needed to understand what is happening and adjust your strategy.
Build a stronger lineup. Keep your momentum. Know your audience.