Well, it took over 10 years, but you knew this day would come. Since the dawn of television its meal ticket is advertising. You certainly could always say that the existence of TV is really due to the use of toothpaste and laundry soap. But since the 21st century erupted with digital technology, the content creators have no way to truly trackthe metrics involved with charting their audience by sheer eyeball viewers to the degree that they’re able to accurately monetize advertisers. OhhhhOK, now that I said all of that intricate BS…the bottom line is…this is a GOOD thing. Why? Because the more they know about “how many” are watching what when…the more all content creators can judge budgets and ultimately SALARY to the performers in it. This additionally will help standards related to our negotiations with the AMPTP as it pertains to residuals etc. etc. We NEED accurate metrics that come from the Neilsen ratings concept.
We’ve already long since crossed into the world of FREE, so don’t worry about it if you’re one of those that feels everything should be FREE. There will now always be plenty of FREE content, but if you’re a creator and/or a performer then having a legit way to measure viewers beyond YouTube subscribers or hits is of monster value to us all.
Article excerpt: TV programmers frustrated that shows watched on tablets and smartphones have been invisible to Nielsen’s ratings may finally get a solution — next year. Next week, Nielsen will formally announce to clients a timetable for a long-awaited development: In September 2014, the firm is aiming to be able to attribute linear TV viewed on smartphones and tablets to its National TV ratings. The approach, the culmination of more than three years of work, will for the first time provide a single, consistent measure of live programming viewing across both TV and digital, according to the firm. That could solve a problem that has vexed TV nets and marketers: Today, there’s no satisfactory way to harmonize data about video content and advertising viewed on TV, online, mobile and other platforms. The new Nielsen capability means live television streamed through such apps as ABC’s WatchABC, as well as on iPad video apps from cable operators, can now be counted toward the total numbers on which programmers get paid by TV advertisers. However, to be counted as part of Nielsen’s TV ratings, mobile apps must include special code that can track live TV (and send it back to Nielsen). That’s a step that will take time for Nielsen and its partners to implement, test and refine.
From a pure actor business perspective please realize what ratings provide us because it matters. If a show is doing tremendously well, then you already know it is likely it will be around for next season. Additionally if you know a show’s status it helps us understand when we should be going after a show more aggressively because as a show’s ratings decline from season to season the more “unknown or uncredited” actors have a SHOT at being called in by casting. When a show is HOT and new, all of the “name actors” out of a job presently will get all of the Guest Stars and consequently a lot of actors who have a fair number of Guest Star credits will take Co-Star auditions.
So when it comes to ratings, there is a great deal of value in Big Brother knowing more about who is watching what when, how often and how many because it translates into advertising value which then translates into “more money” in our negotiations. This is one of the crucial steps after the turn of the Century, in our ability to FINALLY begin to monetize the internet…as a day to day measurement. Knowledge is power, and in this case, it can me the VALUE of our performer…when a show is heavily watched, and we measure it.
See the actual article upon which this Blog is based: http://variety.com/2013/tv/news/nielsen-to-add-mobile-device-viewing-to-tv-ratings-in-fall-2014-1200649185/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breakingnewsalert
Always on your side. @TheKevinE