Case study · CBS · Discovery · Amazon and other networks · 2013

MAPPR

Which pilots will a network's viewers actually love, and how does this one compare to every pilot that came before it?

analyzepresent

The question

Networks test pilots one at a time, but every decision is really a comparison against years of prior tests. That history lived in hundreds of separate reports.

Analyze

MAPPR pooled pilot-test results into one meta-analytical dataset, normalized scores across studies and seasons, and profiled each new pilot against comparable shows.

Present

An interactive visualization let researchers and programmers see where a pilot sat in the distribution, which audience segments carried it, and which past shows it most resembled.

Impact

MAPPR became a standing tool in Nielsen’s content research practice, was used by Amazon Studios to evaluate its own pilots, and set the pattern for the “automated topline” work that followed.

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