PROJECT 1 · TELEVISION RATINGS AND SUCCESS

What Makes a Show Successful?

A Programme Analysis of Blossoms Shanghai (China)
and Squid Game (Korea / Netflix)

LIVE SIGNALSIGNAL HOLD · CH 01

SHANGHAI · 1990s · A SETTING THAT BECAME A CHARACTER

TEAM CHINA 4 presenters · 8–10 min + 2 min Q&A · [DATE TBC]

THE QUESTION

Success has three meanings — but ratings pay the bills

LIVE SIGNALSIGNAL HOLD · CH 02

MEASURING SUCCESS · WHAT THE INDUSTRY COUNTS

THE TOOLKIT · FOUR METRICS, FOUR QUESTIONS

SOURCE Course slides: 5. Audience Rating, pp. 2, 5, 6, 10 (adapted from Péter Kolosi).

THE CASE

Blossoms Shanghai: a drama that became a city event

SOURCE China Audio-Visual Big Data (CVB); Tencent Video; Dengta; Magnolia Awards; The Paper / CNR, 2024.

WHY IT WORKED

Five drivers behind one hit

LIVE SIGNALSIGNAL HOLD · CH 04

NOSTALGIA AS CONTENT · PLACE, DIALECT, MEMORY

SOURCE Project brief, slide 2 (genre, format, target audience, scheduling, promotion); The Paper / Fujian Daily / CNR, 2024.

READING THE NUMBERS

Three claims: rating, share, reach

Bar chart comparing first-10-minute, peak and full-run average ratings for Blossoms Shanghai — FIGURE 1 · CCTV-8 RATINGS, CVB 2024

SOURCE Course slides: 5. Audience Rating, pp. 4–6, 8–9; CVB and Dengta data, 2024.

THE MONEY

Advertisers buy access to audiences

Bar chart comparing advertisements per episode in Blossoms Shanghai and contemporary dramas — FIGURE 2 · ADS PER EPISODE, THE PAPER 2024

SOURCE The Paper / Times Finance, Jan 2024 (ad count); course slide 9; QuestMobile comparison, 2023.

THE COMPARISON

Same success, two different rulers

Two panels comparing linear TV percentages with Netflix hours watched, separated by a not-equal sign — FIGURE 3 · TWO RULERS, NO CONVERSION

LIVE SIGNALSIGNAL HOLD · CH 07A

CHINA · LINEAR TV

LIVE SIGNALSIGNAL HOLD · CH 07B

GLOBAL · STREAMING

SOURCE Netflix Q3 2021 shareholder letter (1.65 bn hours, 142 m households); Bloomberg / Netflix est., 2021 ($900 m); CVB, Tencent Video, Magnolia Awards, 2024.

EVIDENCE ON SCREEN

The impact a rating cannot count

SOURCE CGTN English video report, 2024 (self-hosted 45s clip); course slide 10.

CRITICAL REFLECTION

Can a show succeed with low ratings?

LIVE SIGNALSIGNAL HOLD · CH 09

IF NOBODY IS COUNTED · WHO DECIDES THE VALUE?

SOURCE Course slides: 5. Audience Rating, pp. 3, 6, 10, 11; discussion questions p. 11.

THE END

What we learned — and your questions

SOURCES CVB · Tencent Video · Dengta · Magnolia Awards · The Paper / CNR · Netflix Q3 2021 · Bloomberg · course slides 5.