At present, there are two methods to collect ratings data, namely, diary method and personnel measurement instrument method. Diary method refers to the method that all family members aged 4 and above in the sample family fill in diary cards to collect viewing information. Each family member in the sample family has his own diary card, and they are required to record their daily TV watching (including channels and time periods) on the diary card at any time. The time interval listed on the diary card is 15 minutes. Each diary card can record the viewing situation for a week.
Personnel measuring instrument method refers to the method of collecting TV viewing information by using "personnel measuring instrument", which is the latest viewing survey method in the world at present. Each member of the sample family has his own buttons on the hand controller, as well as buttons for guests to use. When family members start watching TV, they must first press the button representing themselves on the mobile phone, and then press this button when they are not watching TV. The meter will store all the information of watching TV every minute (even accurate to the second), and then transmit it to the central computer at headquarters through telephone line (or access the data through PDA).
How long will the ratings come out? Some are a week, some are two weeks, and some are a day. Liu Yannan said that it mainly depends on what kind of measurement method is adopted. If the diary method is used, it will take at least one week, and generally it will take two weeks to collect and analyze data. If the personnel table method is adopted, because the telephone line can send back data immediately, the viewing data can be provided the next day, but the cost of the personnel table is relatively high. If the diary method is used, it takes one week at the earliest to collect and analyze data, and generally it takes two weeks, which obviously has a certain lag and the accuracy is not optimistic; If the personal measuring instrument method is adopted, the cost of measuring instrument is naturally higher because the telephone line can send back the data immediately and provide the viewing data the next day or even faster.
Audience rating refers to the percentage of people (or households) watching a program in a certain period of time to the total audience (or households), that is, audience rating = the number of people (or households/audience (or households) watching a program. Of course, in addition to program ratings, there are related statistical indicators such as time ratings.
Can TV ratings be compared with news broadcast?
Nowadays, more and more TV dramas use the expression that the ratings of a TV drama are second only to News Network. Is this comparison scientific?
Liu Yannan thinks there is no comparability between them. First of all, TV series and news broadcast are not in the same broadcast period; Secondly, they are not facing the same market. News broadcast is geared to the whole country, while more TV dramas are regional and geared to a province or a city. "The reason for this formulation is mainly because" News Network "has a high audience rating in everyone's impression. I want to prove that the ratings of this TV series are high, but it is best not to make such a comparison. " Secondly, Liu Yannan introduced that in some places, the ratings of a TV series may be higher than that of news broadcast. For example, in some places, the ratings of Princess Pearl reached 60%, which is because News Network is geared to the whole country and its statistical base is too large.
So what data should be used as the comparison standard for the ratings of a TV series? Liu Yannan said that the industry generally takes the ratings of a prime-time TV series broadcast by CCTV as the comparison standard, or a representative TV series that created the ratings myth as the measurement standard.
Can ratings measure the quality of TV dramas?
Liu Yannan pointed out that another common phenomenon in ratings analysis is simply linking ratings with content. When the ratings rise or fall, you can often see the assertion that "this is because the program content is good (or bad)". Generally speaking, ratings and program content are related, and the latter usually has obvious influence on the change of the former, but this is not absolute. Liu Yannan said that ratings should not be the only criterion to measure the quality of a program or TV series, but also an indicator of satisfaction. "If scoring measures quantitative factors, then satisfaction measures qualitative factors, and it is more important." According to reports, some TV dramas have high ratings but low satisfaction, and there may even be a phenomenon that everyone watches a TV drama while watching it; Some TV dramas may not have high ratings, but they are very satisfied, such as Yongzheng Dynasty. "We didn't pay attention to ratings before, but now we are going to the other extreme: ratings are the only thing wrong."
Secondly, the ratings are also fake. Zhang Hongsen, deputy director of the Film Bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, once denounced the phenomenon of false ratings at the "2002 China Communication Forum-China TV Drama Communication Symposium". He said that a TV station in Shandong had stopped broadcasting a program for three months, but the ratings survey company didn't know it at all, and it was still providing the ratings of the program, with the ratings as high as 30%.
Why do CCTV Sophomore and AC Nielsen provide different ratings?
CCTV- Sophomore Media Research Company and AC Nielsen Company are the two most important ratings survey companies in China. According to industry analysis, in the TV ratings market, CCTV- Sophomore accounts for about 85% of the national market share, and AC Nielsen accounts for about 10%. The other two big companies are AC Nielsen Media Research and Shanghai Radio and Television Information Consulting Co., Ltd.
People in the industry often have the impression that the ratings data provided by AC Nielsen and CCTV- Sophomore media research are not the same, even the same TV series in the same region and at the same time, sometimes there are considerable differences. For example, a set of "Romantic Things" broadcast by CCTV, Nielsen's average audience rating is 7%, while CCTV- sophomore is 6%; Another example is the average ratings of News Network in Hangzhou from June 5438+1 October1to September 23, 2000. The data provided by CCTV-Sophomore is 22. 1%, and that of ACNielsen is 4.6%. Which data is more accurate?
The reporter found in the interview that this is a sensitive topic for the investigation company. An industry insider who asked not to be named told reporters that this is mainly caused by different measurement methods: the results of diary method and instrument measurement method will definitely be different. It should be said that instrumental measurement is more accurate. The diary method is often filled in after the event, so the error will be relatively large, and the data of the personnel measuring instrument can be accurate to 1 minute, so the ratings will be much lower. In addition, due to different sample households and different calculation systems, the rating will be different. "Generally speaking, although the numbers are different, the trend should be the same, otherwise users will be confused."
What are the factors that affect ratings?
Bi Jiangyan, a CCTV-Sophomore Media Research Company, analyzed five factors that affect TV drama ratings: ① Regional factors. Liu Laogen's ratings are as high as 22% in the northeast and only a few percentage points in the south. ② Seasonal factors. In 20021February, the average audience rating in the first five months was 3.66%, and the audience rating in June was the lowest, only 2.82%. Summer vacation ratings have rebounded, reaching the highest point of the year, 3.85%. ③ Time factor. The best performance in ratings is 19: 00-20: 00, with ratings exceeding 5%. It can be seen that the ratings of TV series are largely determined by the time period. ④ Channel factors. The same TV series is broadcast on different channels, and the ratings are different. For example, the ratings of Orange Red were 13.97% when it was broadcast on a provincial channel in Gansu, 7.37% when it was broadcast on a TV series channel in Fujian and 7.29% when it was broadcast on the central channel. ⑤ seeding factor. In June 2002, the TV series "Kangxi's Private Visit Part IV" broadcast in Wuhan was 9.39% when it was broadcast in Wuhan II, but less than 4% when it was broadcast in Wuhan IV, 5438+065438+ 10.
An influential ratings survey company?
At present, the influential ratings survey companies in the world mainly include American Abichuang company AGB Nielsen, British Barb (Broadcast Audience Research Committee Co., Ltd.), French TNS, Video Research Ltd (VR for short) and Canadian BBM.
AC Nielsen is the largest market research company in the world. 1923 was founded in Chicago, USA, and it is the earliest commercial company engaged in audio-visual investigation. 1999, Nielsen Media Research was acquired by the Dutch publishing group VNU(VNU is one of the world's leading media and information companies), thus obtaining greater financial support. On August 5th, 2004, AGB Group and Nielsen Media Research Company, which belong to Cantar Media Research Company (Cantar Group is one of the largest research, analysis and consulting networks in the world, and belongs to WPP Group), announced the merger plan, which will integrate all the companies in AGB Group and Nielsen Media Research Company's own TV ratings services, with VNU and Cantar each holding 50% shares. Through this joint venture, Nelson has obtained strong technical support. The new joint venture company is called AGB Nielsen Media Research Company, and its rating services cover major markets including Australia, China, China, China, Hong Kong, Italy, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Abizhuang Company, founded in 1949, is an international company engaged in media and market research, providing services for broadcasting, advertising agencies and outdoor advertising companies in the United States, Mexico and Europe. The core business of Abichuang Company includes: 1, radio listening rate survey; 2, regional television and cable TV ratings survey, network, live satellite and other new media usage survey; 3, retail, product survey and provide related consulting services. In order to counter the people-meter of Nielsen Media Research, Arbitron Company recently developed a more convenient portable people-meter (PPM), which has been put into commercial use in many countries around the world, including the United States. This new measurement technology will make the ratings survey more accurate.
BARB (Broadcasting Audience Research Committee Co., Ltd.) was established in 1980. Barb itself did not carry out the specific work of ratings survey, but entrusted two companies to conduct it separately. Television Research Co., Ltd. is responsible for the work of sample households, including basic investigation, update, maintenance and control of sample households. TNS(Taylor Nelson Sofres) is responsible for data collection, including the provision and installation of manpower meters, data collection and statistical analysis. People-meter is used as a tool to collect data in the ratings survey in Britain. There are 4485 sample families. In order to reflect the overall structure, TV Research Co., Ltd., which is responsible for sample maintenance and control, conducts a basic survey of 40,000 people every year. Adjust and control the samples according to the survey results, so that the samples can fully represent the whole population.
France began to conduct ratings surveys by telephone and letter from 1954. 1958 established a specialized agency-advertising carrier research center (CESP). 1964 established an audience rating survey system with 13000 samples (conducted through conversations), and published the survey results four times a year. During the period of 1967, the public opinion research center, which was separated from the original advertising carrier research center, specialized in investigating ratings and TV audience satisfaction. 1985 was transformed into a joint-stock company of MEDIAMETRIE, and the results of the ratings survey were productized. At present, it has become the most important ratings data provider in France. Starting from 1985, Nielsen in the United States and Sofres in France also began to provide ratings survey services. At the end of 1990s, tyler nelson and Sofre merged, making TNS the largest French market and media research institution.
Video Research Ltd (VR for short) www.vrnetcom.co.jp is the most authoritative institution in the field of audio-visual investigation in Japan, which was established in 1962. Forty years later, VR has developed into the flagship of Japanese market and media research. VR has a wide range of research and rich content, and it is the only company in Japan with a nationwide survey network. VR mainly uses personnel measurement instrument system to provide viewing data, and in some specific areas, it also uses diary cards to conduct ratings surveys. In addition, VR also provides all-day broadcast listening rate data. The investigation method is diary card method, and the recording period is 15 minutes. Collect listeners' listening at home or outdoors through diary cards. This listening rate survey is conducted six times a year, and the respondents are 25961men aged 2 to 59. The survey was conducted in April, June and August for two weeks, and in February 10 and 12 for one week.
BBM is a non-profit broadcasting research institution in Canada, which regularly surveys viewers and listeners to obtain ratings and listening rates. This institution is recognized as an "industry appraisal institution".
Compared with foreign countries, the audio-visual rate survey in China started late. China's ratings survey began in the mid-1980s and entered a stage of rapid development in the mid-1990s. During the period of 1986, CCTV conducted a sample audience survey in 28 cities across the country, which is considered to be the first large-scale and professional audience survey in China. From 65438 to 0987, China Central Television (CCTV) jointly conducted the first nationwide survey of urban and rural TV viewers, which was conducted every five years. At the same time, CCTV and some local TV stations began to make ratings statistics.
In the middle and late 1990s, with the rapid expansion of the number of TV stations and TV channels and the rapid development of TV media marketization, the competition in the TV viewing market intensified. As the main indicator of TV viewers' viewing behavior and preferences, ratings play a more and more important role in programming, advertising decision-making and TV program evaluation. In this context, the ratings survey in China has developed rapidly. Its main symbol is1997 65438+February 4th, and CCTV-Sofres Media Research (CSM) was formally established by the cooperation of the former CCTV Investigation and Consultation Center and France SOFREY Group. After just a few years of development, CSM has become the most authoritative professional ratings survey company in China. CSM currently has the largest TV audience viewing survey network in the world. By the end of 2003, there were 65,438+0 measuring networks (measuring instruments), 65,438+07 provincial log networks, 2 provincial measuring instruments networks, 73 city log networks and 65,438+09 city measuring instruments networks in China. In addition to CSM, another important company in China's ratings survey industry is AC Nielsen Company, which conducts ratings surveys in more than 0 cities nationwide 10 with measuring instruments.
At present, in the domestic ratings survey market, CCTV-Sophomore and AGB Nielsen almost occupy the whole market, accounting for about 80% and 10- 15% respectively, while other companies have only about 5% market share. Now, in addition to these two almost monopolized big companies, there are some other research companies in China, among which the professional survey of ratings data is like that in Zhong Shi. However, due to the different sampling methods and software statistical methods adopted by different companies, there is no prescribed standard, so different companies often have different data, and even great differences.