Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Opinion: Following the viewer's journey

07/01/2025

Matt Ross, chief analytics officer at SVoD viewing measurement company Digital i, explains why broadcasters and streamers continue to need timely and insightful audience data

By Contributor

Published: January 6, 2025 Updated: January 7, 2025

Matt Ross, chief analytics officer at SVoD viewing measurement company Digital i, explains why broadcasters and streamers continue to need timely and insightful audience data

target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>

Analysts have predicted that 2025 will bring an end to the global commissioning slump, as well as a return to higher programming spend.

This is great news for the market, not to mention audiences, but the feeling all round is that we are not out of the weeds just yet. Quality over quantity will remain a watchword for many international companies and returnable series with broad appeal will only continue to grow in value in the coming months.

Matt Ross So it remains vital for broadcasters and streamers to make the right choices when commissioning, renewing and acquiring shows.

Keeping up with the times Digital i has been around for more than 20 years, originally founded in 2003 by maths teacher turned data wizard, Ali Vahdati.

A licensed Barb bureau, Digital i started out as a firm focused on tracking and reporting on UK linear viewing figures, but as the industry has evolved, so have we.

Today, Digital i monitors audience data for global streaming services Netflix, Disney+, Amazon's Prime Video and Warner Bros. Discovery's Max in almost 20 countries, including the US, Canada, UK, Australia and much of Europe and Latin America.

We draw audience samples from curated opt-in panels around the world, with members remunerated for the information they provide. Data is then gathered passively through our privacy-compliant applications and parsed by our SoDA system and in-house experts.

Because we have one unified panel we can follow a single viewer's journey between different services, gathering deep household demographic data, which is comparable across all our measured regions and platforms.

This is how we know that 52 per cent of Disney+ viewership was for kids' content last year, or can share insights into how Netflix viewers in the UK are increasingly consuming local licensed content made five years ago or more.

Best use case scenarios Our data is used in a variety of ways, with our clients including commissioners, producers and distributors from around the world.

For example, we can work with content licensing departments to find out how well specific shows are performing - valuable intel ahead of their next renewal negotiation with a buyer - and spot emerging opportunities into which countries to sell.

We can also advise those same buyers as to which titles have been performing well, and among which demographics, or report on trends and viewing habits that might impact their commissioning strategy, globally or in specific territories.

At a more granular level, we can advise on launch strategies, analysing how day-one full season drops are consumed compared to titles released weekly or stripped.

Navigating evolving waters Digital i has ambitious plans to continue to grow, whether that is reporting on more services in more countries, or by improving our processes and offering.

We have started to dip our toes into the AI waters, already using the tech to speed up our development and research projects. Machine learning has also become an important tool in data quality checks and advanced statistical modelling.

Perhaps the most exciting potential use would be insight detection - we would be interested to see if AI is able to more efficiently spot emerging content trends in our data.

However, we see AI as a tool to further enhance our service, not as a replacement for the human expertise that Digital i has to offer.

In the competitive years ahead, broadcasters and streamers will continue to need timely and insightful audience data, while rights holders and talent will need to understand the value of their assets more than ever before.

Digital i will keep growing and will be there to help them navigate the evolving waters.
LINK: https://www.tvbeurope.com/media-consumption/opinion-following-the-view...
See more stories from tvb

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

18/03/2026

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, a...

18/03/2026

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments LED wall virtual production blends 12K open gate acquisition w...

18/03/2026

Brainstorm transforms productivity and sustainability with Suite 7 at NAB Show 2026

Brainstorm transforms productivity and sustainability with Suite 7 at NAB Show 2...

18/03/2026

Neutrik To Showcase opticalCON ADVANCED Connectors At 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/03/2026

SMPTE Details 2026 NAB Show Educational Sessions

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/03/2026

Ben Bradshaw Joins PSSI as Director, Product and Network Development

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/03/2026

Peter Thordarson Joins ASG as Technical Account Executive

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/03/2026

Survey: Voters Trust TV News Over AI, Social and Search

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/03/2026

2026 NAB Show Exhibitor Insight: Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/03/2026

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations

SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, today unveiled its educational presentations for the 2026 NAB Show. This year SMPTE will ...

18/03/2026

Maxon Marks Its Official Entry Into the AEC Market With I...

Maxon, maker of powerful, approachable software solutions for creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects, gaming, and more, today ann...

18/03/2026

Digital Alert Systems NAB Preview 2026

Digital Alert Systems Preview 2026 NAB Show April 19 - 22 Booth C3452 At the 2026 NAB Show, Digital Alert Systems will showcase Version 6.0 of its DASDEC ...

18/03/2026

Setplex Transforms Video Streaming with AI and Super Aggr...

Setplex today announced that it will showcase its complete, fully integrated Zapflex platform for the first time at the 2026 NAB Show, introducing powerful new ...

18/03/2026

SES Announces Extension of Tender Offer

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT RELATES TO THE DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION THAT QUALIFIED OR MAY HAVE QUALIFIED AS INSIDE INFORMATION WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 7(1) OF THE ...

18/03/2026

COW Jobs: Seeking DP for Low Budget Dramedy - Chicago

COW Jobs: Seeking DP for Low Budget Dramedy - Chicago Brie Clayton March 17, 2026 0 Comments Seeking Director of Photography for Low Budget Dramedy Fe...

18/03/2026

COW Jobs: Seeking Gaffer for Low Budget Dramedy - Chicago

COW Jobs: Seeking Gaffer for Low Budget Dramedy - Chicago Brie Clayton March 17, 2026 0 Comments Seeking Gaffer for Low Budget Dramedy Feature Film- I...

18/03/2026

COW Jobs: Seeking Location, Sound for Low Budget Dramedy - Chicago

COW Jobs: Seeking Location, Sound for Low Budget Dramedy - Chicago Brie Clayton March 17, 2026 0 Comments Seeking Location/Sound for Low Budget Dramed...

18/03/2026

COW Jobs: Seeking Child Wrangler for Low Budget Film - Chicago

COW Jobs: Seeking Child Wrangler for Low Budget Film - Chicago Brie Clayton March 17, 2026 0 Comments Seeking Child Wrangler for Low Budget Dramedy Fe...

18/03/2026

Calrec Redefines Broadcast Workflows at NAB 2026 with its Most Powerful Hardware, Virtual and Hybrid Audio Lineup Yet

Calrec Redefines Broadcast Workflows at NAB 2026 with its Most Powerful Hardware...

18/03/2026

Oscar Nominated Two People Exchanging Saliva Posted with DaVinci Resolve Studio

Oscar Nominated Two People Exchanging Saliva Posted with DaVinci Resolve Studio Brie Clayton March 17, 2026 0 Comments DaVinci Resolve Studio handle...

18/03/2026

Boston Conservatory Presents Celebrated Musical Satire Urinetown

Boston Conservatory Presents Celebrated Musical Satire Urinetown Performances for this Center Stage production will take place at Boston Conservatory Theater ...

18/03/2026

Charlie Puth Joins Switched On Pop at Berklee NYC

Charlie Puth Joins Switched on Pop at Berklee NYC The Berklee alum spoke with host and Berklee NYC professor Charlie Harding for a live taping, answering audi...

17/03/2026

NASA+ Prepares To Live Stream Historic Artemis II Mission, Bringing Deep-Space Exploration to Global Audiences

NASA+'s Rebecca Sirmons and Brittany Brown offer unique look at live streami...

17/03/2026

BBright's TTML & SMPTE ST 2110-43: One Single Stream For the Whole World

The transition to IP has fundamentally reshaped professional media infrastructures. Video, audio, and increasingly metadata now circulate as independent, precis...

17/03/2026

Op-Ed: How Generative AI Is Transforming Live Sports Streaming Optimization

Live sports streaming can push every element in your video delivery chain to its limit, exposing every potential weakness in seconds. When the Super Bowl, the O...

17/03/2026

Dell Case Study: Powering the Future of Sports Media One Experience at a Time at UT Austin

Texas Athletics sought to modernize its media production, enhance fan experience...

17/03/2026

NAB 2026: Ikegami to Showcase Latest Generation TV Production Cameras, Controllers and Monitors

Ikegami USA will demonstrate the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast...

17/03/2026

TNA Wrestling and iHeartMedia Announce Major Multi-Platform Collaboration

TNA Wrestling and iHeartMedia announces a new multi-platform collaboration that will integrate iHeartMedia across TNA's premium live events, weekly televisi...

17/03/2026

The Miami Dolphins and Dell Boost Fan Experience, Safety, and Efficiency at Hard Rock Stadium

The goal was to transform Hard Rock Stadium into a global leader in sports and e...

17/03/2026

Spectrum Launches Multiview for NCAA Basketball Tournaments

Spectrum has announced the launch of its new Multiview feature in the Spectrum TV App, giving customers the ability to watch up to four NCAA men's or women&...

17/03/2026

Pac-12 Inks Integrity/Data Deals With Genius Sports, IC360

Genius Sports deal also covers data technology, AI, fan engagement, and performance analysis....

17/03/2026

Rede Massa Chooses Net Insight to Enable State-Wide Centralized Operations

Net Insight is supporting the rollout of a new state-wide centralized operation with Rede Massa, which is an SBT affiliate, the Brazilian regional television ne...

17/03/2026

F1 The Movie' Wins the Academy Award for Best Sound

Featuring audio from practice sessions, qualifying races, and Grand Prix races, the film represents Apple's sports-media ambitions At Sunday night's Ac...

17/03/2026

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Oracle's Mark Ramberg on the Future of Live Broadcast in the Cloud with OCI

Live broadcast has always been one of the most demanding environments in media a...

17/03/2026

DIRECTV Adds Multiview and Sports Central Features Ahead of NCAA Tournament

DirecTV is introducing several new viewing features, including a multi-screen March Madness Mix channel and an updated Sports Central mobile app hub, ahead of...

17/03/2026

Deltatre and ATP Media Announce Multi-Year Broadcast Graphics/Data Partnership

Deltatre has announced a multi-year partnership with ATP Media, the media arm of the ATP Tour, covering broadcast graphics, data, and production across the 2026...

17/03/2026

Detroit Pistons, Scripps Sports To Air Five Games Free Over the Air on TV-20 Detroit

The Detroit Pistons have announced a third consecutive season partnering with Sc...

17/03/2026

How Fresh Finds Africa Propelled Rapper Zaylevelten to a Breakout Year

Fresh Finds Africa spotlights emerging artists and movements across the continent and its global diaspora, with listeners tuning in to discover new Afro-forward...

17/03/2026

Spotify Sparked Viral Moments at G27: genie fest, Driving the Discovery of Thai Rock

Last month, more than 60,000 fans piled into Bangkok's Rajamangala National ...

17/03/2026

Black Rooster Audio release VWB-1X

Vintage-inspired channel strip joins line-up Black Rooster Audio's latest plug-in provides an all-in-one mixing tool inspired by classic analogue consol...

17/03/2026

Accentize unveil dxSplit

Level and EQ voice, reverb and noise independently The latest plug-in to join Accentize's collection is said to take a new approach to dialogue processi...

17/03/2026

RF Spectrum Threat: OFCOM Survey

UHF radio mic & IEM bandwidth at risk Once again, the UHF bandwidth that is currently allocated to RF audio gear is at risk of being reassigned to high-spee...

17/03/2026

SGL Carbon hosts Bavaria's first pilot training course for prospective plant fire department squad leaders

Last Friday, the first Plant Fire Department Training Week in Bavaria successf...

17/03/2026

New campaign from NAATI and SBS CulturalConnnect highlights how we all deserve to be understood'

New campaign from NAATI and SBS CulturalConnnect highlights how we all deserve ...