Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Social Engagement Index Measures TV’s Real-Time Social Impact

Analysis Of Over 1 Million Viewers Reveals Alternate List Of Top Performing Shows

August 18, 2009 - WATERLOO, CANADA. LiveHive Systems, the leader in social TV technology, today launched its Social Engagement IndexTM, an evolution in measuring how viewers are socially engaging with TV while they watch. Through partnerships with TV networks and the tvClickr social TV community, LiveHive has provided social TV content to over one million viewers. The Social Engagement Index summarizes the interactive behavior of these viewers to determine in real-time how effectively a show is socially engaging its audience. “The Social TV movement is forcing media companies to rethink how content is produced, distributed, and consumed. However, the tools to understand how viewers are engaging with a show have failed to keep pace.” said Dave Bullock, President, LiveHive Systems. “Nielsen ratings make a rough estimate of how many viewers are watching a show, but Nielsen is not able to measure how engaged these viewers are, or how they are promoting the show on the social web. These are critical metrics that determine a show’s value and its impact for both producers and advertisers.”

According to the Social Engagement Index, the top performing shows from the past TV season included programs which do not sit at the top of traditional ratings charts.

The top 5 shows on the Social Engagement Index (SEI) for 2009 were:
1. One Tree Hill (SEI Rating: 24.3)
2. 90210 (SEI Rating: 14.1)
3. Jon and Kate Plus 8 (SEI Rating: 8.2)
4. Desperate Housewives (SEI Rating: 7.0)
5. So You Think You Can Dance (SEI Rating: 6.0)

For the complete Top 10 list, and a broader overview of the Index, refer to LiveHive’s presentation “Understanding the Socially Engaged TV Viewer” http://www.livehivesystems.com/2009/08/sei
The rankings were determined through a proprietary formula which accounts for in-show social activity online, and is normalized against the total viewing audience. While a top ranking in the Social Engagement Index does not mean a program is generating the most online social engagement, it does mean it is generating vastly more social engagement than other shows with similar audience sizes. One Tree Hill’s top performance in the Social Engagement Index is the combination of a story format that is well suited to active social discussion and interactivity, and a demographic that gravitates to multi-platform media consumption. Bullock commented “Networks and advertisers have been demanding new audience measurement solutions for years. Measuring the real-time social impact of TV programming is a critical piece to the solution. LiveHive’s position in the industry gives us an unparalleled window into how viewers are engaging online while they watch TV.”.

Prior to the Social Engagement Index, media companies were limited to analyzing post-broadcast social behavior such as blogging, video shares, and episode fan rankings. While valuable, these are metrics of the “Engagement of Referral” and typically measure activity the day after a broadcast airs while he Social Engagement Index measures the “Engagement of Participation.” Real-time analysis of Twitter content has previously been conducted although the number of “in show” audience measurement points available from Twitter is a small fraction of what the Social Engagement Index samples. LiveHive’s technology typically produces audience engagement patterns where each viewer provides a measurable online social interaction every 90 seconds that is tied to an on-air activity. This two-way channel to the viewer provides networks with the ability to better retain viewers, measure sentiment, and calculate the impact of on-air advertising.

In September, LiveHive will follow-up this initial Top 10 announcement with demographic details from the Index. This will include demographic category rankings of which audience groups are the most socially engaged while viewing TV.

About LiveHive Systems
LiveHive Systems is the number one choice in Interactive Entertainment Solutions for television networks and content owners seeking to bring social interactivity to their programming. LiveHive provides a completely outsourced, turnkey solution that includes enterprise-class software, integration, game development, joint marketing campaigns, and event management. LiveHive interactivity has been used by leading broadcast networks to complement on-air broadcasts of reality TV, dramas, professional sports, award shows, music programs, Olympic coverage, and more. In addition to white-labeled solutions for the industry, LiveHive operates tvClickr on Facebook, the largest online community of interacting TV viewers, with real-time social TV content for up to 60 shows per week.

For more information, email press@livehivesystems.com

For a background on Social TV and the Social Engagement Index, view LiveHive’s presentation “Understanding the Socially Engaged Viewer” from http://www.livehivesystems.com/2009/08/sei.

linkback: http://www.livehivesystems.com/2009/08/social-engagement-index-measures-tvs-real-time-social-impact/