By Dotun Adedoyin:
In my interaction with industry practitioners, there is a generic belief that is usually championed, which is “Content is king”. As catchy and believable as that may sound, I have come up with an adjoining opinion which highlights the premise upon which content could be king, and what could be more important. “Content is King, but Data is the King Maker”.
Collective media consumption has become a fundamental part of modern life. Although television remains the dominant medium, other media platforms have grown in popularity over the past few decades. Data- driven businesses are beginning to take notice of this shift and incorporating audience measurement tools into their strategies to position contents for maximum viewership, thereby target advertising costs more effectively.
In this article, we’ll explore how data analytics and audience measurement has shaped what people watch across different media platforms including television, video on demand (VOD), video streaming services, and Internet streaming services.
What Is Data Analytics?
In the simplest of terms, data analytics is the process of using data to answer questions about business and consumer behaviour. It can be broken down into two main functions: data acquisition, and data analysis.
However, the key to a successful data-driven strategy is to identify the key metrics that drive the success of your Channel and adapt your strategy accordingly. If you’re missing the mark, the data you collect might be more detrimental than helpful. On the other hand, audience measurement is the process of collecting data about the audiences you serve. This data includes information about how many people/households have seen your content, how many minutes they watched a channel for, on what device they watched your content, at what time slot do they habitually watch any content, the genre they cumulatively watch etc.
Audience Measurement: From Digital to Analogue
Nowadays, marketers use a wide range of digital tools to measure their audiences, including digital video measurement tools, digital video measurement platforms, digital audio measurement tools, and digital audio measurement platforms. However, these tools often have issues such as inaccuracies, lack of standardisation, and high costs. These issues occur because each media channel has its own unique requirements, as well as its own set of challenges. For example, TV measurement systems need to account for the fact that you can’t see the screen when you’re watching and the fact that the signal is being sent at 2.1Ghz and returned at 2.1Ghz, while the TV is displaying a different signal at 480p with a different colour palette.
What Data Drives in Audience Measurement?
The collection of data relies on the creation of a set of digital/analogue conversion rules (i.e., how to map one type of signal to another).
These conversion rules are defined in tables, and digital signal processors are used to map the digital data to the analogue signal.
The data collected is then sent to a data processing system where it’s stored for later retrieval. Once the data is processed, it goes through several stages to become “clean” before it’s ready for analysis.
Each of these stages has the potential to introduce errors, causing data to be thrown out or counted twice, which leads to inaccuracies
How Data Analytics is Shaping What You Watch
Data analytics is revolutionizing the way we watch TV and the content we consume. Gone are the days when viewers had to sit through hours of irrelevant content just to get to the shows they wanted to watch. Now, with the help of data analytics, TV providers and streaming services can track what we watch, how much time we spend watching, and even what time of day we watch. This information is then used to create highly targeted programming and advertisement schedules, tailored to the specific viewing habits of their audience.
Linear TV and Subscription Video-on-Demand (SVOD) services are leveraging data analytics to shape their content offerings and keep viewers engaged. For example, a viewer who consistently watches romantic comedies is likely to be offered more similar content in their recommendations. This leads to a more personalised and enjoyable viewing experience, keeping the viewer engaged and subscribed to the service.
The impact of data analytics is not limited to just the viewing experience, it is also changing the way content is created and distributed. TV networks and streaming services use data analytics to determine the popularity of specific genres, shows, and even individual episodes. This information is then used to make decisions about which shows to commission, and which shows to cancel. With data analytics, content creators can also measure the success of their shows in real-time, making data-driven decisions to maximise the reach and impact of their content.
Data analytics continues to shape the type of content we watch on linear TV and SVOD, delivering a more personalised, relevant and engaging viewing experience. As technology continues to evolve and data becomes even more accessible, we can expect even more innovative and data-driven programming in the future.
TV-Based Audience Measurement
TV-based audience measurement is a crucial aspect of understanding television viewership. It involves the use of various tools and technologies to record the viewing behaviour of individuals who are watching broadcast TV. The data collected through these tools can provide valuable insights into the preferences and habits of TV audiences. This information can then be utilized by advertisers to make informed decisions about the placement of their advertising inventory. The right placement of advertising inventory can have a significant impact on the success of a campaign.
One of the most important applications of TV-based audience measurement is the determination of the most appropriate time slots for advertising. By analysing the viewership patterns, advertisers can determine the most effective times to reach their target audience. They can then place their ads during these peak viewing hours, maximizing their reach and impact.
Another crucial aspect of TV-based audience measurement is the calculation of TV ratings. These ratings provide an accurate measurement of the popularity and reach of a particular show or program. They are calculated based on the number of viewers watching the program and are often used as a benchmark to determine the success of a program. High ratings indicate that a program is popular and well-received by audiences, while low ratings suggest that the program is struggling to capture and retain the attention of viewers.
In addition to time slots and TV ratings, TV-based audience measurement also provides valuable insights into the average audience of a particular program or channel. This information can be used to understand the demographic profile of the audience, including their age, gender, and income levels. This information can then be leveraged by advertisers to tailor their advertising messages to better resonate with their target audience.
Overall, TV-based audience measurement plays a vital role in understanding the behaviour and preferences of television audiences. With the advent of digital video recording systems, collecting, and analysing this data has become easier, providing advertisers with a wealth of information to inform their decision-making process.
Video On Demand (VOD) Audience Measurement
Video on demand (VOD) is becoming a popular way for consumers to access video content, with cable, satellite, and digital subscription services, as well as newer Internet-based TV streaming services like Sling TV, Hulu, and DirecTV Now, offering it as a feature. With VOD, viewers have the flexibility to watch video content on their own schedule, on any device. VOD audience measurement includes tools that record the viewing habits of individuals who access video content over the Internet. These tools help to determine content genre preferences and highlight the best-performing shows. They also allow for content segmentation through unique profile subscriptions and provide insights into audience watching habits, such as the number of hours watched and the number of times a piece of content was viewed. This information is then benchmarked against an agreed standard to better understand the performance of VOD content. Despite the growing popularity of VOD, digital video measurement tools for this type of content are still evolving, and it remains a challenge to determine which metrics are best suited for measuring VOD audiences.
The future of media consumption
Because data is becoming more accessible and affordable, it will drive further innovation in marketing and help brands identify their most important audiences. With the right data-driven insights and tools, brands can identify their most important audiences and pinpoint the specific problems they face, and craft relevant messages that resonate with their target audiences. Data from these activities will hopefully lead to an increase in brand engagement and loyalty, thus improving the bottom line.
Additionally, data analytics and audience measurement have given media companies a better understanding of the preferences and habits of their audience. This information can be used to personalize content, making the media experience more enjoyable for the viewer. For instance, data analytics can be used to identify the specific genres, topics, and types of content that a viewer likes to watch, allowing the media company to suggest similar content that the viewer may enjoy. This personalized experience helps to build stronger relationships with viewers and increase engagement.
Moreover, data analytics and audience measurement can help media companies to identify the most effective marketing strategies to reach their target audience. For example, the data can reveal the most popular time slots for viewership, which can be used to schedule content and advertisements in those time slots. It can also help to identify which platforms are most popular for viewing and which devices are most used, allowing media companies to optimize their content for those platforms and devices.
Another important aspect of data analytics and audience measurement is understanding the value of a viewer. Media companies can use data to understand the value of their audience by examining the total amount of revenue generated from advertisements, subscriptions, and other sources. This information can then be used to determine how much the company should invest in different marketing strategies to reach their target audience.
In conclusion, data analytics and audience measurement have revolutionized the media industry by providing media companies with actionable insights into the viewing habits and preferences of their audience. By using this information, media companies can optimize their content and marketing strategies to better engage their target audience, improve the viewer experience, and increase revenue. The future of media consumption will continue to be shaped by data analytics and audience measurement, as media companies seek to understand and reach their target audience in new and innovative ways.
About the writer:
Meet Dotun Adedoyin, an Analytics professional with a passion for using data to drive impactful business strategies in the Media, specifically in the Film/Content/Pay TV/SVOD landscape. With years of experience analysing audience needs, content performance, and platform utilization, he has earned a reputation as a skilled and insightful industry expert.
When he is not crunching numbers and data, Dotun indulges his creative side as a photographer and filmmaker, bringing a unique perspective to his work.
