The new rule of American TV Golden Age: Big Data-leading

From the Game of Thrones (Game of Thrones) to the remake of the "Stunted development" (arested Development), the development of the television industry is ushering in a golden age. It's not a coincidence that TV companies and advertisers are using new standards to build a hit show. Under these new rules, social media like Twitter play the same role as ratings, new ideas beat old standards, and small stars are just as important as big shots. This article will be the hit American drama "Mad Men" and "Waste Wood Alliance" (Community) as a case to analyze the new trend of American television industry.

New Rule one: Nielsen's ratings are meaningless.

February 7, the comedy "The Waste Wood Alliance" (Community) in the fourth quarter of NBC premiere. It is shocking that the show is alive now-the show ranked 193th in the radio program rankings. That night, the first episode of the fourth season of the "Waste Wood Alliance" attracted only 4 million viewers, the equivalent of One-fourth of the hottest "men two and a half" (NonBlank and a Half Men) and the big Bang germ. In the Nielsen Ratings League, the "Shark" is not even as good as the ABC replay reality show "The Winner of Wisdom" (Tank).

In the past, 4 million of viewers ' ratings meant being off the air. But, in the fourth season premiere, the "Hulk" has done a feat that other dramas have struggled to do-a series of two global hot topics on Twitter.

In fact, all the good TV shows are very difficult to see in the ratings. For example, "Breaking Bad" and "Mad Men" in Nielsen scored only 3 points, and NBC's Rock also barely scored 2.5 points. Parks and Recreation barely entered Nelson's top 25. From this, we can launch two possible conclusions: 1, all of these programs should be cut off; 2, the rating measurement standards are biased.

Nelson has long been the authority on TV ratings-it can count 25,000 families ' ratings. Although Nielsen's influence has waned in recent years, it is still an authoritative source of information: it can count the ratings of programs played on traditional television sets. But instead of watching the show on TV, we're going through Hulu, Netflix, Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Roku, ITunes, smartphones and tablets-and the ratings on these platforms and devices are not reflected in Nielsen's survey. This February, Nielsen announced that it will start monitoring TV play online ratings in the autumn.

After the TV program ended, our experience was not over yet. We would watch the show on the IMDB with a tablet computer, talk about the story on Twitter, publish a review in a favorite forum, and share the gossip of the actors on Facebook with friends. Even, we talk about a program that we've never seen before. However, none of the above user actions are reflected in Nielsen's ratings survey. At the end of last year, Nielsen bought SocialGuide and announced a partnership with Twitter to conduct a more comprehensive ratings survey. At the peak of the day, 40% of the traffic on Twitter is about television. As a result, Twitter attention and ratings may be as important as a TV play. Advertisers and web platforms have noticed this. In any case, Nielsen and other ratings agencies will change the content of their work and try to explore the impact of television programs on different platforms. This will enable us to redefine the value of a TV program--not just on the screen. In the end, each of us will benefit from the increase in the value of television programs.

New rule two: Big data dominates TV industry

This February, Twitter acquired Bluefin Labs, a social media tracker, to launch new advertising products and develop a viable profit model. Without strong analytical skills, Twitter cannot achieve this goal. But, in addition to Bluefin Labs, many other companies in the market can analyze online jabber chatter and calculate the impact of television programs on the Internet and advertisers--such as the TRENDRR companies that offer similar services. TRENDRR and Bluefin labs are all on Twitter, Facebook and other social platforms to get user speech data. TRENDRR will collect information about the user's sex, location, mobile device and so on through the questionnaire, while Bluefin labs will refine the user data and survey results through machine learning and cognitive science research-not only the user's feedback to the program, but also the user's feedback to the advertisement. Then, the two companies will map the results of the analysis to the program playback time, viewing habits, the plot of the program development line and role.

The new rule three: TV programs can be crowdsourcing

Amazon is already using "big data" to help boost its customer service level. By analyzing user data, Amazon can recommend new products to different buyers. Now, with the knowledge of 200 million active users, Amazon and Jeff Bezos (Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon's online shopping center) can throw Hollywood TV movies aside and develop their own programs. In the near future, Amazon will become Netflix's main competitor (Netflix is the only billing site in the world's top ten video sites).

Last May, Amazon's studio (Amazon UBM program team) announced that Amazon would make original comedy TV and children's programs, and anyone could upload their scripts and feedback on the Amazon Studio website. By comparing feedback and reading carefully, a dedicated team eventually screened out 25 shortlisted scripts in 2,700 applications. Last December, the Amazon studio gave a green light to 6 comedy scripts and made a trial. Some of these scripts are from famous writers, such as David Javerbaum of the Daily Show, but some scripts are from unknown novices.

In this step, the traditional approach is that the top of the program's production team will select several of the 6 test pieces and make them into serials. Amazon, on the other hand, will be airing all 6 of its films in the coming months and using its powerful user base to provide analytical feedback. Then, the audience's opinion determines which test piece has the most potential to be a successful series. Therefore, the series has been optimized before the formal launch, as well as a large number of public opinion effects and audience base. "Viewers will find that the style and character expression of the series may be changing constantly," said Roy Price, Amazon's studio director. "If one of the series turns out to be a big success, it's the work of the production team and the audience," he said.

The new law four: the powerful "Read Minds"

CBS's TV city has many interesting things, some people will sit comfortably in the lab watching TV, but the head is connected with many electrodes. In fact, this is only part of the study. In the MGM Grand Hotel, there is a state-of-the-art studio, which is where CBS studies television viewers ' behavior. 365 days a year, 10.5 hours a day, people here are constantly watching TV, advertising, testing, and many popular TV dramas in the cut out of the plot, to select the most promising programs to help optimize the plot and role shaping.

When TV city volunteers watched the show on the ipad and submitted feedback, the ipad watched them, tracking their facial expressions and feelings. If you frown and click on the "Change Channel" button, the researcher will know your choice and the program's creative team will get this feedback. "Generally speaking, people are good at expressing their preferences to us," said David F. Poltrack, CBS research director. Then the electrodes took off. During the ad time, the electrode band can track the audience's brain waves, measure emotional state and memory activity. At present, one of the main research contents of TV city is "tipping point"--what kind of reaction the audience will make when commercial advertisement is cut in. So relax, stretch your legs, watch the TV comfortably, and let the computer quietly measure your brain waves. Perhaps, when the next episode of the TV series comes online, you'll find that it fits your taste.

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)