美国国家公共电台 NPR Media Companies Struggle To Gauge TV Ratings In Age Of Netflix

Media Companies Struggle To Gauge¹ TV Ratings In Age Of Netflix

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Here to talk more about the struggle over ratings is NPR TV critic Eric Deggans. Hey there, Eric.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE³: Hi.

CORNISH: So Laura just mentioned how Symphony can track viewership of streamed shows. Can Nielsen actually do this technically⁴?

DEGGANS: Yes, they can. Cable channels and broadcast networks have been pressuring Nielsen to come up with this data. And they feel that they've been slow in developing it. But earlier this year, Nielsen did reveal that it does have some viewership data on Netflix original shows like "Orange Is The New Black." but they're only sharing that information with select clients. They're not making it public.

So it's hard for journalists and critics and the public to know exactly who's watching what or to get a sense of how well they are measuring that viewership. So it's still a controversy⁵ inside the TV industry, but Nielsen can do it.

CORNISH: But what's Nielsen's history here when it comes to the technology, right? Is it something that they're good at developing?

DEGGANS: Well, they do have this history where, for example, they competed against Arbitron to provide ratings for radio listenership for a while. And then they wound up buying that company. So it's entirely⁶ possible that Nielsen, if it gets to the point where a rival company develops great new technology that they want to be part of their process, they could just buy it.

So there's a lot of options for a company as big as Nielsen that controls as much of the TV ratings game as they have. And there's an attempt by their customers to pressure them a little bit. There's an attempt by competitors to pressure them a little bit. And then we have to see what kind of choices they're going to make.

CORNISH: So when we're seeing traditional TV companies like NBC and A&E testing the technology from companies like Symphony, sounds like they're trying to even the score.

DEGGANS: Exactly. You know, if you're NBC and you're trying to sell advertising⁷, you do that by getting ratings from Nielsen. So if Nielsen is the only place that gives you the ratings for these shows, then they can charge you as much as they can charge you.

If there's a competitor, that sort of reduces their power a little bit. It allows you some choice. And maybe you believe in that competitor's technology a little more than Nielsen. And it challenges Nielsen to be more on its game, too.

CORNISH: Now, I can understand why critics care about this and I can understand why the networks care about this, but why does it matter to me, the consumer?

DEGGANS: Sure.

CORNISH: When I'm watching, does it matter who else is watching the streaming services?

DEGGANS: Well, the superficial answer is that people like to watch what they know is popular. So if you have a sense that a bunch of other people are watching a show, you might want to check it out. But I think the deeper answer is that if Netflix or Amazon can control how our perception of how popular a TV show is - how many people are watching it - that controls the TV industry. So that controls what kind of shows the viewer ultimately gets to see. Right? And there's other people, actors and producers, they want to get paid. And they also want people to recognize that they're creating shows that are popular.

And beyond that, there's a question about privacy. How much does Netflix know about your particular viewership habits? Is there a way to press a button and find out exactly what you've watched? Because that information isn't public, we don't necessarily know what they know or how they know it or how they can grab it. So there's still a lot of open questions about how this works and a lot of pressure to make some of that data public.

CORNISH: That's NPR's TV critic Eric Deggans. Eric, thanks so much.

DEGGANS: Always a pleasure.

1 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

2 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

5 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。