Article Summary: Thanks to interactive TV, broadcasters now know their viewers better than ever before. The result is they can fine tune their services, more accurately identify high rating shows, and even discover where best to allocate captioning services. This article looks at how interactive TV is helping broadcasters to identify the right programming strategies.
The days of broadcasters making a rough guess with regards which shows will enjoy high ratings have long gone. But now even the educated guesses that followed careful analysis of broadcasting viewership figures are becoming redundant. This is because of the level of accuracy and depth of information that interactive television is providing in the area of viewing habits. In recent years, the scope of information available to everyone via digital technology has been remarkable. In fact, a host of services and capabilities have made viewing more than just a matter of sitting back and opening our eyes. The deaf and hard of hearing can watch practically every film produced thanks to the availability of dvd subtitles, but they can also watch regular television programmes because of the prevalence of subtitling and closed captioning on a vast range of programmes. What is more, even live events are available to view in the same way, thanks to the development of real time captioning, while the blind and sight impaired have benefited from the development of audio description services. What all of this means is that television has truly become accessible to everyone. And this has, in turn, increased the significance that interactive technology has for both broadcasters and advertisers alike. The type of information now accessible is extremely detailed, thanks to click stream data, which is gathered by the set top box. In essence, every click of the remote control is logged into a data bank revealing what programme a viewer watched and for how long. But this is only a small part of the information recorded, with commercial data, interactive games data and which online services now proving invaluable to broadcasters and advertisers alike. Programmes Watched As far as broadcasters are concerned this is golden information, providing them with such detailed information not only on overall viewership figures, but the actually preference of each viewer in the system. It means that more reliable decisions can be made in the future, helping in programme planning and where to invest resources. If, for example, enough sports is highly popular amongst a viewership then live captioning for live sports events should ideally be provided too. Similarly, if news and current affairs are highly popular, then live captioning at a special news conference broadcast becomes a priority. Commercial Data From the point of view of advertisers, commercial data is golden information, allowing them to pinpoint a successful marketing strategy. By reading the click stream, a host of preferences and trends can become evident. The data will show what commercials were watched, and more tellingly, which ones were watched completely. If a large percentage move on before the end of the ad, then the campaign can be tweaked. Alternatively, if the Tell Me More option is clicked on, then it shows that the ad is more effective. The time spent reading the extra information reveals the level of interest, while any progression to an on screen order form confirms its success. Meanwhile, overall viewer figures can reveal regional preferences, telling marketing personnel where to focus their efforts. Online Services Amongst the most significant services is online shopping, and browser trends can be logged to show the particular preferences of the viewer. It is not just a matter of what may have been bought, but also what items were viewed, and further information was requested. Other services include email access, online chatting via the television screen, personal viewing planner and even if stock market quotes were sought. Interactive Games Data The click stream data also shows which pop quizzes were accessed, and even how a viewer voted in a particular poll. Also, the choice of games that are played are also logged, and even the personal scores and game performance. This may be considered useless information, but the fact that polls, games and everything else are generally sponsored by an advertiser, the data is of interest to broadcasters who earn through these options, and the advertisers who can build commercial awareness. Viewing expectation has progressed far beyond dvd subtitles, and even the availability of real time captioning. The arrival of the digital box and its remote control has provided television viewers access to many, many more services and a far greater television experience. Of course, the pluses of interactive television are as much enjoyed by the broadcasters and advertisers analysing the data as the viewers themselves. In fact, everyone benefits because of the influence the figures have on programming.
No comments:
Post a Comment