Blogging about whether or not a star for a new TV show has all the screen presence of a bowl of fruit could end up as part of a report to program executives.
TVTracker.com and two partners, Trendum and Initiative, have been touting their PropheSEE tool to networks and advertisers as a way to measure the “Internet chatter” about a new program, even before it airs, to help find the next big hit.
After analyzing Internet content, the service provides a couple of points for consideration by studio honchos:
This analysis yields two reported statistics – Buzz, a count of total messages that mention each measured program, and Sentiment, an analysis of message context. Buzz is reported as the percentage of total measured messages across programs for fall or midseason launch. Sentiment is reported as the percentage of measured messages for an individual program that have a positive, negative or neutral context.
A statement by the group behind PropheSEE claimed a May 2004 test of the system predicted the success of ABC series Lost and Desperate Housewives well before either series aired.
What’s most important to execs and advertisers? Demographics, particularly one group mentioned in the statement:
…people who share their opinions about television programs online in entertainment boards, chat rooms or communities tend to be opinion leaders who are passionate about television viewing and, through the Internet, can influence others’ viewing habits well beyond their individual social network.
And while Internet users tend to be younger, better educated and more affluent than the average television viewer, (Trendum President Rich) Nelson contends that is precisely the demographic group that most advertisers and virtually all of today’s television networks are targeting.
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David Utter is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business.
