No More Strain on Grid from TV Audience
LONDON (UPI) -- Engineers with the British National Grid have found a symptom of the fragmented TV audience -- the end of huge surges of electrical use after popular shows. The 1990 World Cup semifinal between England and Germany set an all-time record of 2,800 megawatts as more than 1 million people turned on their electric kettles at the same time after the game, The Scotsman reports. The final episode of "The Thornbirds," a mini-series starring Richard Chamberlain that aired in Britain in 1984, is a close second at 2,600 megawatts. But the latest incarnation of "Doctor Who," the science fiction series that has been running for decades, created only a 400-megawatt surge, roughly the equivalent of 160,000 electric kettles. While sports events, especially late World Cup games with England playing, can still cause a surge, the 2,290-megawatt surge that followed the 2002 "who shot Phil Mitchell" episode of the popular prime-time soap opera "East Enders" appears likely to be the last caused by a dramatic TV episode.
LONDON (UPI) -- Engineers with the British National Grid have found a symptom of the fragmented TV audience -- the end of huge surges of electrical use after popular shows. The 1990 World Cup semifinal between England and Germany set an all-time record of 2,800 megawatts as more than 1 million people turned on their electric kettles at the same time after the game, The Scotsman reports. The final episode of "The Thornbirds," a mini-series starring Richard Chamberlain that aired in Britain in 1984, is a close second at 2,600 megawatts. But the latest incarnation of "Doctor Who," the science fiction series that has been running for decades, created only a 400-megawatt surge, roughly the equivalent of 160,000 electric kettles. While sports events, especially late World Cup games with England playing, can still cause a surge, the 2,290-megawatt surge that followed the 2002 "who shot Phil Mitchell" episode of the popular prime-time soap opera "East Enders" appears likely to be the last caused by a dramatic TV episode.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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