How do you determine the rating of TV shows? TV audience. TV program

With the popularity of television, the measurement of TV ratings has become an indispensable component of the media business. Not only channels, shareholders and sponsors are interested in conducting calculations and analyzing them, but also the TV audience itself.

The first received statistics provide an opportunity to regulate the current television policy, while for spectators rating is the lever through which they influence the laws of the world of television. This detailed article will get rid of the questions and will allow you to understand how the rating of TV shows is determined.

Basic concepts of the rating industry

From English, the word "rating" is translated as "evaluation". It is a percentage characteristic derived from calculating the ratio of viewers watching a particular program for a certain period of time to the total number of the existing audience in general. The rating of TV shows is measured only among part of the population older than 4 years living in large cities, where the number of residents exceeds the mark of 100 thousand people.

Another professional term of telemetry is the proportion - this is a clarifying indicator, which is determined based on the ratio between the number of viewers actually watching the program and people who just turned on the TV at a given moment of time or aimlessly switch channels.

The last group is, as it were, a potential audience for each particular transmission. The television program and its global success, therefore, depends on the rating data, and on the calculated share. Together they reflect the real passions and desires of the audience.

Uneven television ratings

The distribution of the real and potential number of viewers when they view the broadcasts is uneven, which is due to many factors. Time of day is very important; So, the TV program can get into the morning or evening prime time, when even a quiet broadcast has a chance to rise high, because people want to see at least something before going to work or on their return from it.

To understand how television rating is determined, it is also necessary to take into account that the calculation takes place differently depending on the type of television: terrestrial or cable (satellite). In the first variant the person stops his choice on one of about twenty channels, while in the second case - on one of 100, 150 or more! Aiming at a certain audience and its tastes, playing into the hands of experienced TV men, in turn, also generates differences in the system. Therefore, the rating of entertainment TV shows, news, children's programs, "stylish", spectacular talk shows does not almost never fall - they have an enduring demand. Experts analyze the interests of people and, based on them, adjust the television grid.

Who and for what purpose conducts measurements?

The process of calculating the rating data in Russia is carried out thanks to the activity of TNS GALLUP-MEDIA, which is monopolistic in this sphere. This company deals with measurements in all areas of the media: broadcasting, the Internet, magazines and newspapers. The information obtained is the only one that is recognized as official.

Why does Gallup do this? Obviously, for the benefit. Rating is a kind of television currency, closely related to advertising and interesting, first of all, for the advertiser. Television and telecasts act as airtime sellers and serve to attract spectator attention, so advertising agencies that want to promote their products should not make the wrong choice. In this case, they are helped by mathematical statistics, called ratings. It allows you to draw conclusions about the profitability of buying a certain TV brand and investing in it money for the purpose of promoting their products within the advertising in the period of showing a particular program.

Types of information received and media planning

The measurement takes place in the mainstream of the science of sociology and is divided into two categories: the identification of actual and forecast data. The first type allows you to draw conclusions about a real TV viewing of a particular program and its success with the population. It is determined immediately after the end of the broadcast.

The forecast rating is presumable, focused on advertising agents, but also necessary for broadcasters. The first type of data is needed for planning its own long-term campaigns, the latter - in order to identify the potential success of the transfer, depending on which it will be first purchased, and then displayed on the air grid at a certain place at a particular time.

Often forecasting is based on the data of past outcomes and results, but is carried out both through the activities of research organizations, and, if desired, by the channels themselves.

But nevertheless, regardless of the species, how do you determine the rating? Telecasts and people, it would seem, are numerous, and asking everyone about television tastes is an impossible task. However, everything is much easier - through proven methods, often with the help of modern technology.

How is the rating of the TV program calculated: an economical measurement option

"Viewer Diaries" is used, like other research methods, within the framework of general information collection from a panel sample of households, where there is at least one working TV set.

For telemetry, one or several cities are selected, which are split into polling stations. They choose households, and for a greater variety of studied families are stratified - are divided into groups according to one or several characteristics that unite them (occupation, financial position, etc.).

The diary is a table, where the vertical column indicates either TV channels or transmissions, depending on the rating of what needs to be identified, and the horizontal column - the time of the day, divided into intervals of 15 minutes. The material is given to all members of the family that agreed to the research (households), and each fills it according to their personal viewer preferences.

TV-meters

They are also electronic counters. They are special computing devices that allow you to install and register which cumulative number of televisions and radios have been tuned in a particular period of time to a particular wave.

This "smart" mechanism is another component of how to determine the rating of TV shows, and it makes it possible to identify the beginning of the transmission viewing with an accuracy of a second.

The sensor is built into the receiver. When using a device by a member of a household, registration is required by pressing a button on the remote control assigned to each person in the family. After this action, the electronic meter will automatically count all the switched channels and TV programs produced on a particular TV, after which at night the collected information on the teleview will be transferred to the Moscow data center.

The main disadvantage of the device is a binding to a stationary home phone, which many do not have at all, or at any particular time (for example, in the summer at the dacha).

Questionnaires and telephone interviews are also used.

Creative ideas and new approaches

Innovative methods and solutions for calculating rating data were offered repeatedly. For example, an American company has produced a device capable of automatically fixing a face turned towards the television receiver. This idea was rejected by the population, who considered the introduction of such a device into the house not only as interference in private life, but also as an insufficient ground for drawing conclusions, because a person simply turned to the TV does not always directly watch the broadcast.

The already mentioned organization "Gallup", together with the leading company in the USA on rating analysis among radio listeners, has developed a device that looks like a pager. He is regularly worn by the researched researcher and with the greatest possible accuracy captures information about watching TV programs both during the stay of a person at home and outside it.

Flaws and inaccuracies in measurements

Most of these methods are used in the aggregate, but researchers note the imperfection of each of them. "Viewer's Diaries", although a more common and cheap form of measurement, reflect far from exact results, contain significant errors.

Electronic devices are more expensive and access to them from the respondent is not always available, because most devices are tied to home TVs. Do not take into account watching TV in places where people work or at various entertainment venues. Also, a person can not watch the transmission in reality, and turn it on only for background. In addition, surveys completely ignore the population of small towns and villages, while their inhabitants may have their own television preferences.

However, all these false or incomplete data are still counted as real. Why? Because at the moment these existing options are the only possibility for channel directors to make more or less real conclusions about what kind of broadcast the viewer prefers to watch.

The improvement of the rating industry occurs every year, the methods of research are becoming more accurate and better to reflect the most objective, real situation on the television market.

Ups and downs

The ratings are similar in many respects to the stock indicators in view of their volatility. Any external causes can drastically change the situation within the entire business. Typically, an absolute change in the picture is provoked by world or domestic political unrest, when most residents resort to news programs for orientation in the situation, which makes the ratings of these programs significantly grow.

The same situation is observed in severe climatic and natural anomalies: several years ago, a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 followed, followed by a hurricane Irene, which disrupted airports and public transport. At this time, the weather reports have more than tripled the ratings of weather transmissions, and in some states, which suffered the most severe damage, this figure was even higher.

Thus, any instability of the external world can lead to serious changes in the rating system. The task of competent media planners and TV crews is to react quickly to sudden, spasmodic changes and to adjust the broadcast for urgent inquiries.