The TV industry is big business. It always has been. But how we define “TV” is very much an evolving story, simply because viewership and engagement is no longer directly tied to a predefined schedule or static set of channel options. And while people still spend more than twice the amount of time with traditional TV than their connected TV devices, trends over the last year showcase how streaming-first mindsets are critical to success in the future.
For context, Americans increased their streaming usage by 21% between May 2021 and May 2022. That uptick, much of which happened during historically low TV viewing months, fueled a dramatic shift in total TV consumption—even though total TV viewing remained virtually unchanged. In June 2022, streaming accounted for more than one-third of total TV time, 6.3 points higher than in June 2021.
The flipside of this surge in consumption is a growing expanse of content—and platforms to host it. In the period between December 2019 and February 2022, the number of unique video content titles grew from 646k to more than 817k1. And to complement the growth in titles, some now estimate there are more than 200 streaming services for audiences to choose from.
So, as lucrative and attractive as the streaming space is, success is far from easy. Several entities, including Deloitte, have forecasted subscriber churn amid the deluge of content and channel options, and a recent Nielsen survey found that 46% of streaming subscribers believe there are too many services available to them.
コンテンツのオーナーやバイヤーにとって、この環境をどのように乗り切るかを知ることは、単純明快なことではない。競合が多く、1日の時間も限られているため、あらゆる決断が視聴者の番組への関心を左右する可能性がある。別の言い方をすれば、ストリーミングの分野でバイラルになることは、ストリーミング・プラットフォームがフルシーズンのコンテンツを一度に配信し始めたため、視聴者が最初に「ビンジ・ウォッチング」という言葉を作り出したときよりも背伸びした注文である。
しかし、ますます混雑している空間であっても、コンテンツの所有者と購入者がデータを使って、コンテンツが視聴を促進するかどうか、あるいはビンジに値するかどうかを判断できるとしたらどうだろう？そして、このような判断がストリーミングコンテンツに限らないとしたら？
良いニュースは、そうではないということだ。さらに良いニュースは、この種のデータを採用することで、オーナーやバイヤーと同様に、あるいはそれ以上に、視聴者にもメリットがあるということだ。結局のところ、関連性の高いコンテンツを求めているのは視聴者なのだ。
利用可能な、そして今後利用可能になるであろうコンテンツの量を考えると、メタデータはコンテンツの発見に不可欠となる。メタデータは、コンテンツ所有者やバイヤーが、視聴者が特定のコンテンツに惹かれる理由を理解するのにも役立つ。オーナーやバイヤーが、どのような特徴がエンゲージメントを促進するのかを知ることで、視聴を促進し、それを維持するために必要な情報を得ることができる。
では、考慮すべき多くの特性の中で、視聴者の嗜好や長期的なエンゲージメントに本当に影響するのはどれなのか？また、これらの特性は実際にどのように数値化できるのだろうか？
To help content owners and buyers on this front, Gracenote, the content solutions pillar of Nielsen, recently announced a new data set that can be used to optimize program licensing and acquisition strategies as TV viewership booms. These are the characteristics that shed the most light on how individual streaming and broadcast programs are consumed:
- ビンジビリティ：視聴者が1日に何本のテレビ番組を視聴するかを把握し、複数のエピソードを連続して視聴する視聴者の傾向を定量化する。
- ロイヤルティ：視聴可能なコンテンツの月間視聴時間（分単位および割合）を把握し、視聴者が番組を継続する可能性を特定する。
- 番組の類似性：類似したテーマ特性、視聴者層、過去の実績に基づき、他の番組と類似した番組を特定する。
While these characteristics might be useful to some degree in determining road-tested programs with established audiences, especially as competition rises, they will be critical in assessing audience engagement with new programs. As streaming continues to account for an increasing share of total TV usage, we analyzed two new Netflix programs that debuted this year to gauge how audiences received them: Inventing Anna, which debuted in February, and The Lincoln Lawyer, which debuted in May. Both shows performed well with audiences, as they each appeared on Nielsen’s top 10 streaming list for several weeks around their respective debut dates.
When we look beyond the minutes viewed, however, we can better understand program-level engagement—and see viewers were more engaged with The Lincoln Lawyer than Inventing Anna.
Given the reception and resulting media fanfare around The Lincoln Lawyer, Netflix did announce that it greenlit a season 2 of the show. That said, the loyalty and binge scores for the program provide independent data points validating engagement. Comparatively, the Shonda Rhimes-led Inventing Anna was planned as a limited series, and therefore, no second season has been announced. But if the creators and Netflix ever change their minds and need viewer validation, the loyalty and binge scores could certainly serve that need.
This article originally appeared on Streaming Media.
