Paying the price for 'recession TV'
Friday November 13 2009
The X Factor may be perfect 'Recession TV' -- but is the show actually prolonging the economic turndown?
British pub landlords certainly think so. Their lobby groups have warned that Saturday-night business is down thanks to the amount of people who are staying home to watch the show.
One pub group that runs more than 2,000 premises across the UK, Mitchells & Butlers, have now ordered their landlords to screen the TV talent show to pull in punters.
With the rate of Irish pub closures now running at one a day, Jedward could be the final nail in the coffin.
Employers will also be counting the cost of productivity lost due to their staff's obsession with The X Factor news and gossip on the internet.
Some surveys claim the average Irish office worker already spends up to 42 minutes a day visiting "non-work-related" internet sites.
Just do the math -- The X Factor could be a bigger threat to our economy than rogue bankers and dodgy developers put together.
Irish Independent
