Q Scores and General Sentiment Announce the Launch of the Social TV Audience Reaction (STAR) Monitor

General Sentiment’s Trusted Analytics and Emotional Bonding Q Scores Offer a New Industry Standard in Social TV Monitoring

JERICHO, NY, October 7, 2011 – General Sentiment (GS) and The Q Scores Company today launched their Social TV Audience Reaction (STAR) Monitor, which provides comprehensive daily monitoring of every prime-time show across the broadcast universe and insight into online discussion and the emotional attachment between viewers and these shows.

Emotional Bonding Q scores and General Sentiment’s online discussion analytics offer metrics that quantify discussion levels, emotional attribution and commitment strength among viewers. The GSQ STAR Monitor delivers competitive insight by assessing the audience’s reactions to all shows that air new episodes on the same night.

The report combines General Sentiment’s online Volume and Involvement metrics, which provide the daily emotional reaction, with Q Scores’ nationally representative measures of ongoing audience devotion to determine program commitment and staying power. It is built upon a two-day trailing model that captures and takes into account viewer data for those using online media and DVR equipment for delayed program viewing. Daily tracking of prime-time shows in this manner provides a unique approach for networks, advertisers and media buyers to analyze which shows have the most committed audience and thereby gain valuable competitive insight.

“Tracking online conversations is the first step in the social TV monitoring process,” said Greg Artzt, CEO of General Sentiment. “But determining the audience’s emotional reaction in addition to the audience’s long-term commitment is necessary in order to get a more meaningful picture of a show’s success. The GSQ STAR Monitor offers the comprehensive data necessary for networks to make sound decisions around their programming. It also provides the data essential to help brands determine where best to invest their advertising dollars.”

The GSQ STAR Monitor is the new industry standard in social TV monitoring. The report is an enhanced version of the TV Audience Evaluation Reports (TVAERs) that GS and Q Scores developed last year to provide insight into audience involvement and emotional reaction, and it complements GS’s newly released TV Brand Match product, which offers data on the suitability of advertisers. When used together, these three tools complete the media buying equation.

“The GSQ STAR Monitor is a real-time version of the TVAER we launched last year with the addition of more bells and whistles,” said Henry Schafer, executive vice president of The Q Scores Company. “Audience involvement continues to be key, and emotional commitment is crucial in social TV monitoring. Rather than reporting to the industry on a weekly basis, we can now generate a daily analysis, which provides an even more accurate picture of a show’s success or failure to engage and hold onto its audience over time.”

General Sentiment and Q Scores launched the TV Audience Evaluation Reports (TVAER) last September, and in August of this year, General Sentiment released its cutting-edge TV Brand Match technology. The launch of the GSQ STAR Monitor is an addition to an already robust suite of TV monitoring services offered by General Sentiment and Q Scores.

For more information on the General Sentiment and Q Scores GSQ STAR Monitor, go to:

www.generalsentiment.com/mvreport/gsq-star-monitor-report.html

About General Sentiment

General Sentiment is a social media monitoring and analytics company delivering insights that change the way brands make product and marketing decisions. Fueled by large-scale natural language processing and text analytics developed over the course of seven years of university research, General Sentiment monitors and interprets online conversations, discovering actionable social insights for its clients.

General Sentiment is a trusted source of industry intelligence, offering quarterly reports which rank and analyze brands across various sectors. It also provides a dashboard, an API and a custom reporting service, all of which allow corporate executives to comprehensively understand brand perception, identify trending topics in specific industries and optimize the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

For more information, visit www.generalsentiment.com.

You Can't Be Angry With The Angry Birds' Q Scores

by Steven Levitt

In the just completed Summer 2011 Kids & Teens Brand Q study, Angry Birds ranked within the top ten percent of all brands rated by children 9-11 years of age. It ranked #10 among 9-11 aged boys and #13 among girls of the same age.

The highest Q Score among children 6-11 is Wii while iPod achieves the highest Q Score among teenagers 12-17. Q Scores reflect the degree of brand enthusiasm among those youngsters who are familiar with a brand.

The adult version of this study (Brand Attachment Q) begins at the end of October.

A Message to TV Commercial Buyers and Sellers: Pay Attention to Viewer Emotions

by Henry Schafer

Today's complex TV viewing environment has placed much more focus on how to best determine the value of a program's advertising environment. In order to be a really savvy buyer or seller of commercial time, knowledge of a program's audience must go beyond the limited realm of "how many viewers are delivered" and include a clearer understanding of a program's ability to deliver "satisfied viewers" as well as "viewers who are committed to continue watching on a regular basis". Programs that deliver above average levels of these viewers provide a more valuable advertising environment due to greater viewer involvement.

Reaching satisfied and committed viewers, or "favorite viewers" as we like to call them, is extremely important because they have a stronger likelihood than less favorable viewers to:

• watch the whole program
• watch the program more often
• pay close attention to the program

....and, as a result, also have a stronger likelihood to:

• recall the brand being advertised
• have a more favorable opinion of the advertised brand
• purchase the advertised brand in the future

So, when decisions need to be made about competitive pricing and strategic buying, make sure you are informed about a show's momentum (current viewer satisfaction) and ability to keep viewers tuned-in to future telecasts. Our TVQ and Cable Q Online Program Evaluation Services answer these critical questions throughout the year with regularly scheduled nationally representative surveys -- covering all of the major broadcast and cable networks as well as syndication. Our unique metrics for measuring the strength of program satisfaction (Impact Q) and ongoing commitment (Emotional Bonding Q) get to the very core of what really drives viewers to connect with certain shows -- viewers are primarily driven by their emotions!

This is true for high rated as well as low rated shows and those in between. Hence, the size of a program's audience and/or the program's CPM can be misleading with respect to determining the value of its advertising environment. My next blog will get into more details about how some prime time and cable shows rank on these "viewer emotion" metrics -- you will be surprised!

Steve Martin Still The Favorite Academy Awards Host

by Steven Levitt

Steve Martin is still the most appealing Academy Awards host. No host in the last twenty years has connected more with the audience than has Steve Martin, who served in 2003. His likeability (Q Score) rating outdistances all other hosts, including this years' new duo who ranked in the bottom five:

While a high Q Score does not guarantee a solid Academy Awards performance, still future choices might be better served by a "fan favorite".

Steven Tyler May Surprise American Idol Fans

by Steve Levitt

As the revamped panel of judges begins its arduous task of evaluating season 10 hopefuls, we looked at the “likeability” ratings (Q Scores) of each of this season’s judges prior to the start of the new season.

Although he is the least well-known of the three, Steven Tyler achieved the same Q Score as did Jennifer Lopez, the most well known. Having the same Q Score but different levels of recognition is possible through the Q Scores technique since it measures the degree of liking (“One of my favorites”) among only those who are familiar with each personality. In this regard, Steven Tyler has an upside potential to generate many more fans.

Q Scores for the winning artists in the first nine Idol seasons averaged slightly below the “norms” for all singers. Carrie Underwood, the winner in season four, outscored the other eight winners by a wide margin and ranked third out of 76 female music performers rated in our Summer 2010 Performer Q study.