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Return Path Data: A 21st Century Business Tool
Multi-channel Audience Insights – A Complementary Approach
The cable and satellite television industry generally uses people meter TV audience measurement (TAM) information as its main source of subscriber behaviours. However, the syndicated nature of the research and a specification frequently driven by the needs of free-to-air operators often limits how the data can be used by multi-channel operators and channels.
Historically, these limits have been overcome by companies commissioning independent survey research – sometimes to gain a deeper understanding of the dimensions of multi-channel audiences or to aggregate audiences across geographies and/or time. As the audiences have fragmented and multi-channel delivery options increased, the limits of traditional survey data have been exposed.
The ubiquity of digital set-top boxes means that many cable and satellite operators can collect subscriber behaviours as a by-product of their subscriber management processes. Specifically, return path data (RPD) can provide an economical way for the cable and satellite businesses to enhance the currency TV audience measurement in a manner dedicated to the needs of the multi-channel television industry.
Return Path Data – Primary Applications
Return path data can be used to generate data equivalent to the currency TV audience measurement data such as program ratings and channel shares. However, the data’s real strength is found in providing insights that are complementary to the market people meter data. The following list identifies some of the main applications for which return path data is being used internationally, and how these data complement existing TAM services:
1) Interactive TV reports – while it is theoretically possible for currency TAM services to measure of interactive services, the relatively small samples in most TAM services cannot provide the level of detail needed to properly understand usage of enhanced TV such as use of alternate camera angles or custom overlays. Return path data overcomes these limits.
2) Custom audience analyses – due to the currency nature of TAM, many of the interesting questions relating to “reasons why” cannot be asked of people meter panelists. In contrast, custom return path panels offer platforms and channels the opportunity to collect extended demographic and behavioural characteristics not regularly available in currency services
3) Subscriber management services –due to the syndicated nature of most currency services, platform operators gain little insight into the viewing behaviours of critical subscriber segments relevant to platform operators. By way of contrast, return path services can offer metrics which support viewer management based on Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) or propensity to churn metrics
4) Precise measurement of fragmented audiences – the economics of people meter panels limit the resolution for reporting of small share channels. Return path services offer significantly larger sample sizes (typically ten or more times the size of a country’s TAM currency) and the ability to obtain accurate estimates of viewership for smaller share channels or for channels at small (sub-market) levels
5) Extended Audience Measurement – while many currency TAM services now include time shift viewing measurement, most currency TAM systems are not designed to reflect that the total audience for a cable or satellite program may be accumulated over multiple broadcasts and through time shift viewing and on-demand access. The limits of this reporting can be overcome with the custom analyses possible in Return Path Data
6) Advertising Planning for Custom Audiences - return path services are often used to provide enhanced single-source style demographics by measuring the viewing and purchase behaviours within a single home. This highly desirable data allows a channel to offer advertising clients increased efficiency through buying spots based on a product definition and to provide a post-evaluation service showing the effectiveness of the buy. This is not possible with a currency TAM service.
7) Interactive Advertising Accountability – multi-channel operators can demonstrate the accountability of their interactive advertising, particularly for highly engaging formats such as impulse response ads that seek a direct response or a telescopic ad directs a viewer to 10 minutes of long-form content.
While there are many other applications, the power of the return path data is that the information can be used extensively by all parties within the multi-channel world, including the platform, channel and advertising management teams. Further, these applications will generally complement – not compete – with the currency TAM service.
Thoughts for Implementing a Return Path System
Numerous multi-platform operators are now using return path data. In the last five years, multi-channel operations such as BSkyB in the UK and DirectTV in the US have invested significantly in developing services for their businesses. In the Asia Pacific region, Sky New Zealand, Korea Telecom and the Australian subscription TV industry have all made significant commitments to return path services. While each implementation is different, platform operators need to consider the following main factors when implementing a return path system:
1) Set Top Data – ensuring that the digital set-top boxes can return information about subscriber behaviour to the platform in a timely and accurate manner is an essential part of any return path service
2) Platform Data – while a lot of focus in setting up RPD is on extracting set top data from subscriber homes, platforms also need to ensure that ancillary data (such as subscriber management and broadcast operations data) can be easily produced for processing
3) Third Party Processor – while a cable or satellite operator may be able to process the return path data, there are many advantages gained by using a third party to process the data. Specifically, independent processing is often seen as essential if the data will be used for trading. In addition, a third party processor often brings with them other advantages linked to their experience, scale and adaptability.
4) Broad Business Ownership – It is often easy for an RPD project to be “owned” by one department within a platform (eg engineering or IT or research). Because of the multi-faceted nature of return path services, the development and management teams should span all the main business functions of an operator including platform management, channel management and advertising management. This will ensure that the system will be able to support the insight needs for every key business section, not just the core project manager.
Tools for Business Decisions
Return path services are a new and exciting tool for cable and satellite businesses and will continue to evolve. Increasingly, platform operators see RPD providing insights into subscriber behaviours not easily captured elsewhere. Channel programming and promotion groups benefit from the granular, more precise data available from the larger samples. They can also quantify more accurately how audiences are aggregated across the many broadcasts and delivery options available to contemporary subscribers of cable and satellite services. Finally, advertising teams are relishing the enhanced accountability of superior planning data and advertising models that deliver more effective results for clients.
It is a well recognized maxim that “what gets measured gets managed”. Return path data allows platforms, channels and advertising companies to more easily measure the elements important to their businesses. It also provides an economical solution to new metrics critical to the expansion of the cable and satellite industry. In summary, return path data is an essential tool that will help the industry make better business decisions in this increasingly competitive world.