Live stream schedules are a strange thing.
There's a bunch of science and data that goes into building a smart schedule that I'm not always willing to share. Consider it a "trade secret" if you will, but I will say this: It greatly depends on your audience. I've been running an experimental split schedule with morning and evening sessions averaging around 4 hours each. I've seen a huge decline in overall interaction and attendance. I'll take the blame for reasons listed:
- During the morning timeslot, a vast majority of my viewers are either at work or occupied. Due to their generous nature, they attempt to watch even though they can't. This means they'll open a tab and have it going in the background, or watch on mobile during work hours, but not really pay attention.
- The evening timeslot is now shorter. Most people familiar with the evening timeslot still anticipate it lasting well over 8 hours. I've seen many surprises when I end around midnight or 1AM EDT.
- Lately, I've been in extreme variety mode, trying a lot of different games which is making my audience a bit sparse. It's that time of year where there are quite a few games and in my current "main" games, it's a "lull" period. Those games being Final Fantasy XIV and Path of Exile.
- I'm beginning to feel the effects of streamer burnout. It's a real thing! Taking days off and keeping things fresh and exciting can alleviate this. One example is that we're now doing movie nights on Saturday afternoons (5PM EDT) with subscribers. It's a refreshing change of pace with our community and has received positive feedback overall.
So that's a lot to consider, but as of today, all my streams will being at 8PM EDT and will last until I decide I need to stop. My goal is to go for at least 4 hours a night, but considering that I won't be doing a morning stream, it is highly likely the streams will last longer. I hope this schedule works best for you all and also helps me continue to do this crazy full time streaming thing.
See you all online!