Audience Measurement

Audience measurement refers to the goal‐oriented process of collecting, analyzing, reporting, and interpreting data about the size, composition, behavior, characteristics, and preferences of individuals interacting with particular media brands or products. Traditional tools include focus group interviews, circulation audits, media diaries, surveys, and people meters. These were usually conducted by ratings or audit firms. But the rise of digital journalism also led to new tools, such as web and social media analytics, conducted by news organizations themselves or by third‐party applications, such as Facebook. Unlike traditional tools, analytics are (a) faster to collect; (b) automatic, as both deliberate and incidental feedback are recorded; (c) more inclusive, as data come from a much larger number of the audience; and (d) more comprehensive. Thus, audience measurement has evolved from a state when data points were few and collection was expensive to a situation of abundant data and low‐cost analytics, presenting new challenges.