Streaming and How to Measure IP Success

Streaming has overtaken our lives as the dominant form of film and television consumption. Over a decade ago, Netflix introduced this format, and it has since revolutionized how media is consumed. Now every major media conglomerate, from the Walt Disney Company to AOL Time Warner, wants in on a piece of the action, creating exclusive streaming apps to house their own content and intellectual properties. The advent of streaming is so viral that now, traditional television feels like an artifact from the past, the number of people who still pay for cable are at an all-time low, and the cinematic old guard are decrying the “death of cinema” as more people forgo the theatrical experience in favor of the comforts of their own home. In fact, the utility of cable proved more beneficial in light of the recent worldwide health crisis, where theatre attendance dipped to a new low and people stuck to the safety of their own homes. While streaming proves convenient for consumers however, it creates new challenges for content producers, chief among them being how to measure the ratings and views of a show or movie. In this blog post, we will explore the different downsides of how streaming services track viewership. Then, we will compare them to the strategies communication leaders use to measure the success of their communication campaigns. When the concept of streaming went viral, it facilitated the need to reinvent how to track viewership of movies and television. 

Traditionally, a movie’s success could be tracked by several means, worldwide gross, total box office, or number of movie tickets. Worldwide gross dictates how much money a film made before expenses, the box office measures the actual profit the movie generated, and the number of tickets show how many people attended without being blown up by inflation. Television famously used the Nielson rating system to generate ratings for programs. Streaming services are both more sophisticated than these methods while also having the chance of being more deceitful.

Generally, streaming apps use computer algorithms to track which shows are played most on their websites. This allows services such as Netflix or HBO Max to feature playlists of their most popular programs on their homepage. This allows streaming services to break down how many views a film or episode receives. On the other hand, this process can also leave out important context. For example, HBO Max recently released the four-hour film Zack Snyder’s Justice League after a viral fan made campaign on social media. While the film itself did very well and attracted plenty of viewership, HBO Max’s traditional approach to ratings did not account for the number of people who started the film but found the four-hour runtime too daunting and quit half way through the movie. Only about 36% of HBO Max viewers actually finished the film the week it premiered (Barfield). In addition, none of the figures HBO Max released explains if the number of views were from the first week after it premiered, or if its high ratings were constant throughout the sample period. These streaming numbers also do not account for how many people in a single household are watching a movie, only how many times the movie gets played. While it may seem inconsequential to some, either way the film got plenty of attention and viewership, but these types of statistics can show producers whether a project is simply a cult item, or if it has potential to be the basis of a long form franchise. One metric streaming services can use when measuring the success of the content is to analyze social media. When strategic communication leaders ascertain the effectiveness of their campaigns, they often try to break down trends on social media. There are several algorithms that measure how much a topic trends, how much of this talk is positive or negative, or how widespread an idea is (Edwards). This feedback system is already in place. The previously mentioned Zack Snyder’s Justice League was only released after a strong push on social media. Similarly, another HBO Max property, the television series Infinity Train, trended number 1 worldwide recently when fans of the show planned a Twitter party where fans planned on April 20th to get the hashtag finish infinity train trending after the show was prematurely canceled. This type of data is especially important since streaming services can sport a wider variety of content. According to Ian Jones Quarterly, a producer at Cartoon Network studios, part of the appeal of making the move to streaming was that content that would struggle on traditional television networks might flourish on streaming (Pulliam-Moore). Social media analysis gives producers an opportunity to identify potential projects that might fill these kinds of niches. 

This approach is especially useful considering the recent trends in the entertainment industry. It is no secret that every Hollywood studio is currently in search of the next valuable Intellectual Property that can inspire enough fan engagement to generate sequels, spinoffs, and merchandise, securing decades of revenue in the process. The downside is that while leaders in this industry often have strong feedback about which movies succeed in the form of hard data, they often lack data about what made these IP’s successful. There is an infamous urban legend about a Hollywood executive who saw the success of the first Matrix movie and thought the film succeeded because everyone in the movie wore trench coats, then demanded every movie at his studio include trench coats. Modern media analysis software would allow executives to track specific keywords online and better understand what aspects of various properties inspire a positive reaction in audiences.

Despite handwringing from cinematic purists, streaming is the new status quo when it comes to consumption of media. This trend will only continue as services such as Disney+ and HBO Max offer direct alternatives to theatrical releases.As such, leaders in the entertainment industry need to take advantage of the raw data provided by streaming and social media. If they do so, they can refine their technique and introduce greater nuance than traditional rating systems would allow.

References

Barfield, Charles. “Only 36% Of Viewers Finished 'Zack Snyder's Justice League' In Its First Week Of Release, According To Data Company.” The Playlist, 1 Apr. 2021, theplaylist.net/zack-snyders-justice-league-numbers-20210401/#:~:text=And%20when%20it%20comes%20to,households%20actually%20finished%20the%20film. 

Edwards, Kinga. “PR Metrics: 6 Ways To Measure Your Brand's Success.” Mediatoolkit, 26 Apr. 2021, www.mediatoolkit.com/blog/pr-metrics-ways-to-measure-your-brands-success/.

Pulliam-Moore, Charles. “OK K.O. Creator Ian Jones-Quartey Blames Cancellation on Trump Feud.” io9, io9, 19 Mar. 2021, io9.gizmodo.com/ok-k-o-creator-ian-jones-quartey-blames-the-shows-canc-1846516051?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=dlvrit&utm_content=io9.