Fly on Corporate Wall
Twitter is the new TV remote The court of public opinion as represented by Twitter and Facebook is forcing TV networks in countries including Thailand to re-evaluate how shows are rated in terms of popularity.
We heard recently that Channel 3 shrugged off the Nielsen ratings for its prime-time soap "Rang Ngao" because the show proved to be much more popular on the social media. Evidently even the road traffic in Bangkok is heavier on Mondays and Tuesdays with people rushing home from work to watch it.
Nielsen’s surveys placed "Rang Ngao" behind Channel 7’s "Pa Nang Sua" in the ratings, though, suggesting that the traditional method of gauging popularity was lagging behind in our tweeting times. Some marketers now believe "social TV" plays a decisive role in determining the success of shows because so many viewers watch them with a mobile device in hand. They’re online, commenting among themselves throughout the show.
Nielsen’s head office insists it won’t lag behind the curve for long, announcing it will implement "Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings" in the United States next autumn, when the 2013-14 TV season begins. And thus the world’s leading consumer-behaviour researcher has bowed to the pre-eminence of Twitter in real-time television engagement. The news comes just as Twitter declares it has now surpassed 200 million active users.
Even though 80 million of those people – every single person in Thailand – seem to be on one social network or another, Nielsen’s local operation will not immediately jump into Twitter TV Ratings. But the Bangkok office has already prepared for a change in rating measurement. It will include more samples to determine better what people watch, says managing director Sinthu Peatrarut, a crucial move with the boom in cable and satellite TV since April.
According to Adisak Limparungpata, president of Nation Broadcasting Corporation, only 36 per cent of TV viewers still use antennas to watch terrestrial programmes. Statistics like that and the chatter online prove that the industry surely needs the most precise feedback possible.
Certainly marketers and advertisers are looking forward to seeing the Thai office introduce new ratings techniques, Twitter-based or otherwise. The likes of Channel 3, whose primary audience base is in the big cities, will be more than willing to embrace the new ratings measurements.
