As the television landscape fractures, figuring out who is watching what has never been more difficult or important.
When the CBS television series Limitless premiered on a Tuesday night last September, 9.9 million people tuned in to check it out. In today’s TV world, which is nothing if not limitless—given the deluge of programming on everything from Netflix to cable to YouTube and myriad ways to consume it— 10 million pairs of eyeballs for a new show is impressive.
And that was only the beginning. After factoring in about a month’s worth of DVR playback and video-on-demand viewing following the show’s premiere, plus streaming data from CBS’s website and app, the network’s total Limitless audience estimate jumped to 16 million. “That’s a big difference,” says David Poltrack, chief research officer for CBS. “That’s the new way that television programs become successful. They don’t become successful just on network viewing, on live TV. They don’t become successful just on the Internet. It’s an accumulation of this different distribution. You need to measure everything.”
It sounds so simple. Just add up all the numbers, right?
Hardly. The new math of TV ratings and audience measurement has never been more complicated. As online video platforms proliferate—and audiences scatter across smartphones, tablets, laptops, and connected-TV devices, such as Apple TV and Roku—getting an accurate read on viewership has become a Sisyphean task. There is no single, authoritative provider of data; networks have to cobble together sometimes contradictory information from an array of sources. What’s at stake: Without a full picture of a show’s audience, neither producers nor advertisers know the true value of what they’re selling and buying.
Denne historien er fra April 2016-utgaven av Fast Company.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra April 2016-utgaven av Fast Company.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
THE NEW RULES OF BUSINESS TRAVEL
In the era of hybrid teams, everyone is a road warrior-not just sales teams and C-suite execs. It's part of why business travel spending is expected to finally reach, and perhaps surpass, pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year, according to Deloitte. But, as with everything, work trips are not what they were in 2019. From airlines to banks, companies are finding new ways to make business travel easier-and even a little fun.
INTELLIGENT IMPACT
BUSINESS LUMINARIES SHARE HOW AI CAN INTERSECT WITH SOCIAL MISSION.
REDDIT'S REVENGE
IN AN ERA OF AI UPHEAVAL. THE CACOPHONOUS SOCIAL HUB EMERGES AS THE HUMAN-DRIVEN INTERNET'S LAST GREAT HOPE.
SO MANY WAYS TO LOSE
In the Ozempic era, Weight-Watchers is remaking itself to be something for everyone meal-plan program and a tele-health prescription service. But have consumers already lost their appetite?
10/10 - THE 10 MOST INNOVATIVE PEOPLE OF THE LAST 10 YEARS
In honor of Fast Company's 10th Innovation Festival in September, we identified 10 industrious leaders whose groundbreaking efforts defined the past decade in business. We spoke to them about their extraordinary achievements in tech, medicine, entertainment, and more. And we explored how the impact of their work has withstood passing fads, various presidential administrations, a pandemic, and many, many quarterly reports.
The Mysterious Reappearance of the Reggie Bar
How a beloved 1970s candy got called back up to the major leagues.
Gabriella Khalil
Gabriella Khalil, creative director, answers our career questionnaire.
The Fast and the Furious
High prices at McDonald's, Taco Bell, and other chains are sparking consumer revolt.
Lost in Truncation
Lost in Truncation Generative AI was supposed to unleash our creativity. Instead, it became our cultural trash compactor. Welcome to the age of summarization.
Campus Radicals
Welcome to UATX, Austin's new well-funded and controversial anti-woke university.
