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Streaming Schedules – Are They Worth It?

3/24/2015

7 Comments

 
Let’s face it; if you’re not streaming your content consistently, the likelihood of your stream growing is very small. Many of the popular streamers on Twitch stream at least 5 days a week consistently around the same time every day. One of the most popular variety streamers on Twitch, LethalFrag, never missed a stream for two years straight. LethalFrag was able to use this two year challenge as a means of growing his stream to the point where he could comfortably pursue streaming as a full-time job.

With that said, I see a lot of newer streamers fall into the trap that is a streaming schedule. While the idea of a schedule that notifies your viewers on when they can expect you to be live is a great idea in concept alone, it does have its flaws. Today, I want to go over why new streamers should wait on putting a schedule together.
The Traps of a Schedule

One of the main points I made in the The Essentials of Streaming: The Basics was that the number one priority of your stream should be for you to be having fun over anything else. Obviously growth is something every streamer wants, but if you’re not having fun, why stream?

One issue I see with schedules/X Amount of year streamer challenges is the fact that there are going to be days that you don’t feel like streaming. You have to ask yourself on those days, is the benefit of streaming just to stay on a schedule or complete an arbitrary challenge worth me streaming while I’m not feeling it, sick, or in a bad mood? The answer should be no. If you’re in a bad mood while streaming, you’re more likely to react to things in a negative way that you normally wouldn’t if you were yourself. How many first time viewers that have never been to your stream before will get the first impression that you are always like that? First impressions are everything, and you’ll never get those back.

That’s not to say schedules are bad and you shouldn’t use them. I personally have a schedule on my stream, but it’s definitely not the end all be all when I’m going live. I also didn’t start using one till well over a year of streaming.  If you intend on using a schedule, just keep your viewers informed on days it changes. Alerting your following on Twitter and changing your Twitch title on days you’ll be gone is an excellent way of keeping your viewers informed that you won’t be streaming on that day.

One huge recommendation I would HIGHLY recommend to avoid scheduling when you're going to play certain games. Do not schedule in what games you are going to play more than a week in advance.  All you will do is alienate the viewers of those games and here’s why. Let’s say you promise you’re going to play X game on Tuesday and Y game on Wednesday. Wednesday comes, and you don’t feel like playing that game, so you don’t. All the people that were expecting you to play that game are now going to be disappointed, and now you've alienated a % following of your stream. Just play what you feel like and don’t over promise unless you can stick to it. Remember if you're forcing yourself to play games you're not enjoying your viewers won't enjoy it either. 

Consistency >  Schedule

If you’re a new streamer I would say your focus should be on just streaming regularly rather than deciding on a set time on when you’re going live. Streaming consistently a few days a week with good content when you’re in your best mood is going to do a lot more for your stream than a schedule. 
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I recently did a poll of my followers on what is the primary way they find out when certain streams are live, and the results make for some interesting information. Of the 447 people that filled out the poll, only 8 users (2%) listed a streaming schedule as the primary way they find streams that are live. While this poll only allowed users to choose one way to find streams, the fact that only 8 users chose schedules speaks volumes. While the data is small, my gut tells me that a lot of viewers don’t pay attention to that schedule on your stream. Something else to note here is that more than 50% of viewers are finding streams they like based on their following page. Realistically, viewers follow hundreds of streams. The likelihood that they have all of the schedules of these streams memorized is next to none, and something you need to keep in mind when you’re deciding if you should stream on a day you don’t want to.


Conclusion

At the end of the day, whether you make a schedule for your stream is up to you. Just don't let the schedule dictate when you stream if you're not feeling like it. Schedules are great, but you have keep your viewers informed that they are more of a guideline than a guarantee. Focus on streaming consistently and viewers will come. 
7 Comments
salt_fish
3/24/2015 07:58:23 am

Hi Pie, long time twitch chat troll, first time blog troll here, I was wondering; don't you think that having a schedule creates a subconscious drive in people to check their followers page at a certain time? Like when I get home at night Pie is usually streaming, so although I don't have the schedule memorized I just check my twitch page in the evening out of habit and there he is. I guess what I'm saying is that the schedule builds viewership even though people wouldn't answer that in a poll necessarily.

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iateyourpie link
3/24/2015 08:02:58 am

I would say there is some truth to that, but I think a lot of that subconscious drive comes back to consistency. If I'm streaming a lot regardless of what time, I feel like people are going to check to see if I'm live regardless.

At the end of the day, letting people know when theres a good chance for you to be live is always a good thing, the problem is streamers talk themselves into thinking this is the only time I should go live. I more wanted people to get into the habit of streaming regularly when they are in the right mind set, as opposed to stream just to keep a schedule that is not as followed as a streamer may think.

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Mogarane link
3/24/2015 08:23:33 am

I started streaming a few months ago having a schedule of 4 days a week. The first two weeks I kept up with the schedule but one week I didn't feel like streaming that day and then he next day the High of starting streaming left me. All motivation to stream after that kinda stopped (on top of not getting any viewers).
I can say from experence that this artice is 100% correct. If I ever stream again I will not be using a schedule.

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Cyrus_Lotuski
3/30/2015 02:29:19 pm

Hey, I've been streaming (semi) regularly since December and I made a schedule for my channel that had the times I could stream. It helps my viewers see when I'm available and gives me more flexibility with the choice of "Do I want to stream today?" if I'm sick, or something important comes up. I can see that a definite schedule isn't needed, but the type of schedule I use could be a help to the other new streamers out there.

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TrollanKojima
4/7/2015 01:23:32 pm

In my experience, streaming on a set schedule has led to me getting burnt out way too quickly. I think sitting down at the PC in a good mood, then deciding "Welp, stream time." is the best way to do it. I'm always in a fun mood when I handle it that way.

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Bismuth
4/13/2015 08:13:35 pm

I follow over 100 streams, about 95% of which are speedrunners, and while most of the time, I will go to my following page to see who's online, I also have certain periods when I know certain streamers usually are streaming at a certain time of the day, your RS stream a month or two ago being a prime example of that. Usually, around midnight, I'd ask myself "hey I wonder if pie is on right now so I can enhance my own RS experience with snug old school RS". These habits usually happen gradually over a week or two, and it's nice to have a regular streamer you form a habit of watching like that, because if you have the habit you know you can expect the streamer to be on following the same kind of pattern.

Another exception is Runnerguy2489, because he has his blindfolded challenge on Wednesdays at 4:20 pm and review the next day at the same time, I will often look at the time on a Wednesday afternoon and go "hey! it's 4:40, I should go watch RG".

Otherwise, of all the people I follow, I have absolutely no idea who has a schedule, and I have no pattern of watching them at certain times. Following page it is.

In short, my point goes like this: if I form a habit of watching a streamer, that streamer having the same habit of streaming at the same time is obviously going to be awesome. As a streamer, having a schedule will generally help forming not only a following, but most importantly (in my opinion), a core following that forms the habit of watching your streams. Those will be the viewers you will interact the most with and that you will get to know better. It is a good element to have if you want to go for a somewhat big stream with a snug chat.

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JansalZ link
4/20/2015 12:38:08 pm

I agree with you about why people rely on the Following page: I regularly hit the follow cap (about 1,950) and when I feel like watching something on Twitch (most of the time), I just open the Following page to see who is on; I always see at least 20 people streaming at any given time, and usually there's someone streaming something I actually want to watch.

I have missed marathons this way, by not bothering to remember schedules, except for ESA and the GDQs.

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