During M2's first year, music videos were programmed to run on a 24-hour basis without repeating, leading to ecstatic reports of marathon viewing sessions at college campuses across the country. However, once it became clear M2's market growth was being thwarted by the major cable companies' obstinance, the network was forced to take difficult but necessary cost-cutting measures. The most obvious change—and the most upsetting to viewers—was the decision to end M2's popular 24-hour "no repeat" policy. In its place, daily programming was curtailed to an 8-hour block that was then repeated three times a day: from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., and finally from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., after which a new 8-hour block of programming would start the cycle again. Predictably, this new format was as disappointing and frustrating to M2 fans as it was to the network itself.