Discovery measuring total video during Olympics
February 1, 2018
With Discovery and its leading sports brand Eurosport on track to deliver the Olympic Winter Games to more people, across more screens than ever before, the broadcaster has developed a first-of-its kind methodology to measure audience behaviour across Europe.
Discovery has unveiled three new metrics, which together will capture ‘Total Video’ – the new ‘TV’—across free-to-air, pay TV, online and social platforms for the company’s own platforms and those of all its partners – on tablets, mobile or traditional television screens.
- Video: The number of videos viewed and the volume of viewing expressed in hours across Discovery’s owned and operated platforms, including free-to-air, pay TV, streaming services, digital, apps and social media, in addition to traditional audience data from its broadcast partners throughout Europe.
- Users: The sum of total users across Discovery’s owned and operated platforms, including free-to-air, pay TV, streaming services, digital, apps and social media, in addition to traditional audience data from its broadcast partners throughout Europe.
- Engagement: The number of likes, shares and comments across all of Discovery’s digital and social media properties, covering all platforms.
Discovery has partnered with Publicis Media’s Sport and Entertainment division to design the approach for and calculate de-duplicated and unique reach through a post-Games survey measuring people’s consumption of the Olympic Winter Games across multiple screens and platforms, without double counting of people.
“Discovery is proud to partner with the IOC and Publicis in modernising media consumption measurement to better understand audience behaviour in the digital era,” declared Jean-Briac Perrette, Discovery Networks International President and CEO. “Clearly the way people consume content and particularly big events has evolved, which is why we need to bolster traditional measurement methods and expand the metrics of television to capture Total Video – the new TV.”
“The Olympic Games is the biggest event in the world and therefore is the best testing ground for studying video consumption. We are committed to delivering the ultimate viewing experience for audiences across Europe, enabling them to enjoy every minute of the action from PyeongChang 2018, whenever and on whatever device they choose to watch it,” he added.
“Discovery is bringing exciting levels of ambition, investment and innovation to the Olympic Games and we highly value their partnership and collaboration,” commented Thomas Bach, International Olympic Committee President. “Through capturing Total Video viewing across all screens, Discovery is setting a new standard, and working together we will be able to better understand audience trends across Europe and interact with new generations of Olympic fans.”
“Publicis Media is excited to have developed this unique audience reach methodology with Discovery and is delighted that the IOC supports its deployment for the Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang,” said Chris Jones, Global Lead, Research & Evaluation at Publicis Media Sports & Entertainment. “It neatly meshes data from different sources. Importantly, official audited data from television and online measurement systems are at the heart of the calculation but clever use of survey research allows us to understand the cross-over in people who connect with the Games via both television and digital/social platforms meaning we can remove any double counting and determine the true pan-European audience reach of an event for the first time,” he explained.
Paolo Pescatore, Vice President, Multiplay and Media at CCS Insight, said: “Accurately capturing consumption across all screens is a significant step forward for the global media industry. We have seen numerous attempts to enhance traditional measurement techniques which until today, have been inaccurate and wholly insufficient. Discovery’s plan for capturing Total Video viewing across all platforms represents a bold new statement of intent to lead the industry. We also believe that using the Olympic Winter Games as a starting point, through a dedicated mix of capturing total Video, Engagement and Users, is a hugely powerful example of what the methodology is capable of, highlighting what will be a more accurate representation of all consumer engagement with premium video content.”