TV Station Tycoon · published · build 26350875
Hi everyone!
I've been working on a major balancing update for TV Station Tycoon, focusing on audience growth, rival competition, and station progression.
After running extensive simulations, I discovered that fully upgraded stations were hitting an audience ceiling that made competing with the strongest rival networks nearly impossible.
I've reworked several systems to make progression more rewarding and competition much fairer.
Reputation now matters: Building your station's reputation directly increases your potential audience.
Stronger tower upgrades: Broadcast coverage now provides significantly better audience benefits.
Improved viewer loyalty: Keeping your audience happy provides greater long-term rewards.
Better network expansion: Expanding into additional markets continues to benefit your station instead of hitting an early limit.
More meaningful programming decisions: Building a diverse content library and rotating shows effectively is now more important than ever.
Rebalanced national rival stations to create more realistic competition.
Rival networks now have more varied audience potential and growth patterns.
Fixed situations where leading rivals were practically impossible to overtake.
Reduced the likelihood of one station dominating the leaderboard indefinitely.
Fixed a leaderboard tie-break issue that could incorrectly award market leadership.
Relaxed: Adjusted rival competition while keeping the mode accessible.
Standard: Improved the balance between player progression and rival strength.
Cutthroat: Corrected excessive rival scaling that made reaching first place nearly impossible.
Improved audience growth throughout the mid and late game.
Made station upgrades and long-term investments more rewarding.
Improved the path toward Station Level 5.
Made competing for the number-one position a more realistic long-term goal.
I've also updated the simulation and balancing tests to better reflect actual gameplay, including daily market changes.
The latest difficulty regression suite passes all 67 tests, and the production build is clean.
I'll continue monitoring player progression, audience growth, and rival competition to make sure the game stays challenging without becoming frustrating.
My goal is simple: your decisions should determine how successful your TV station becomes, not artificial audience limits or unbeatable competitors.
Thanks to everyone playing, testing, and sharing feedback. It really helps me improve the game.
See you on the leaderboard!
- Solo Developer of TV Station Tycoon