In the restless panorama of media and technology, where the flickering screens hold sway over the collective gaze, Yan Liu stands as a visionary sculptor of invisible data. As CEO and co-founder of TVision, Liu is not merely observing the tides of television viewership but actively reshaping the way brands, agencies, and TV media sellers comprehend the deep, often unseen currents of viewer attention.
At the core of Liu’s philosophy lies a simple yet profound realization: In a world awash with content, attention is the most scarce and precious commodity. It’s an insight he gleaned not in boardrooms or market analysis sessions, but in the trenches of the advertising world. “I was running an ad agency,” Liu recalls, “and I saw that television measurement was stagnated.” This epiphany drove him to MIT, where TVision began as a seed of thought, germinating in the fertile ground of innovation.
Liu’s journey, a tapestry woven with threads from China, Japan, and now the United States, is marked by an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and a relentless pursuit of efficiency. His earlier ventures in digital marketing and his strategic insights from McKinsey’s Tokyo office were but preludes to his true calling: revolutionizing TV measurement.
In the dynamic landscape of media consumption, Yan Liu, through TVision, is carving a niche where the precision of digital analytics melds seamlessly with the unpredictability of human behavior in the living room. His approach to TV viewership measurement is akin to a cartographer charting unknown territories, except Liu maps the contours of viewer attention. “Our solution does not rely on the viewer doing anything but watching,” Liu clarifies. This passive, yet profoundly insightful methodology is the cornerstone of TVision’s innovation. By deploying state-of-the-art computer vision technology, TVision captures a comprehensive view of viewers’ engagement without being intrusive. This unique blend of technology and methodology ensures that the insights gleaned are both unobtrusive and incisively sharp.
Liu’s vision is not confined to the current landscape of television and digital content consumption; he is actively shaping its future. In his perspective, the demarcations between traditional TV, CTV (Connected TV), and digital platforms are not just fading; they are becoming increasingly irrelevant. This viewpoint is not merely speculative; it’s backed by robust data gathered by TVision. The Signal report, a monthly digest of viewing trends produced by TVision, offers empirical evidence to support Liu’s claims. “Today viewers spend more time watching CTV than linear,” Liu states, highlighting a pivotal shift in consumer behavior. This observation is crucial, especially considering the lag in advertising dollars, which remain disproportionately skewed towards traditional TV.
The significance of Liu’s work lies in its ability to reconcile the growing divide between traditional and modern content consumption. By tracking viewer engagement in real-time and with granular detail, TVision is redefining the metrics that drive advertising strategies. The depth of the data collected offers an unprecedented understanding of viewer behavior, transcending beyond mere viewership numbers to unravel the nuances of engagement and attention.
This transition to attention-based metrics is more than a technical advancement; it’s a paradigm shift in how media value is assessed. Liu’s foresight in recognizing the potential of CTV and integrating it into the broader spectrum of TV measurement is pioneering. His work is not just about adapting to change; it’s about leading it. By aligning the measurement of traditional TV and CTV with the precision of digital analytics, Liu is not only predicting the future of media consumption; he is actively crafting it.
In differentiating TVision, Liu speaks with the quiet confidence of a man who knows he holds a winning hand. “TVision runs the largest passive CTV panel in the world,” he states. This isn’t just about scale; it’s about depth. Second-by-second attention measurement, co-viewing analytics — these are the tools Liu wields to carve out a new understanding of viewer engagement.
For Liu, the future of advertising is not just about being seen; it’s about being engaged with. “Attention is the one metric the industry can coalesce around,” he asserts. It’s a metric that transcends platforms, bringing a common language to TV, CTV, and digital.
Yet, even as he navigates these complex waters, Liu remains acutely aware of the privacy tempests that could capsize his venture. TVision’s commitment to privacy is not just a policy; it’s a cornerstone of their business model, essential for maintaining the trust of customers and panelists alike.
Yan Liu’s vision for the future of TV measurement is both ambitious and nuanced, seeking to bridge the vastness of big data with the depth of panel data. He perceives these two worlds not as opposites, but as complementary forces that, when combined, can offer a more holistic view of television viewership. “The future of TV measurement will be based on a combination of census data calibrated for accuracy with panel data,” Liu states, envisioning a model where quantitative breadth meets qualitative depth. This approach aims to capture the complexity of viewer behavior, recognizing that the true value of viewership lies not just in numbers, but in the context and quality of engagement. By integrating the broad scope of census data with the detailed insights from panel data, Liu proposes a methodology that can adapt to the ever-evolving landscape of media consumption.
The practical implications of Liu’s approach are already making waves in the marketplace, demonstrating the real-world effectiveness of his vision. He recounts the success story of Anheuser Busch’s collaboration with A+E Networks, a campaign that stands as a testament to TVision’s capabilities. In this partnership, TVision’s data played a crucial role, ensuring not only the viewability of the ads but significantly enhancing the overall value of the campaign. This case illustrates the transformative potential of TVision’s insights, offering a glimpse into a new era of advertising where the focus shifts from mere exposure to meaningful engagement.
Another shining example of TVision’s impact is seen in its collaboration with Scripps Networks. Utilizing TVision’s Attention to Duration Index (ATDI), Scripps Networks has been able to highlight the unique engagement with its content. This metric offers a more nuanced understanding of viewer attention, surpassing traditional ratings in its ability to quantify the quality of viewer engagement. The ATDI doesn’t just count eyes on the screen; it measures how effectively a program or advertisement maintains viewer attention, providing a more sophisticated metric for evaluating content and ad performance.
The stories of Anheuser Busch and Scripps Networks are more than just success stories; they are harbingers of the changing tides in TV advertising and content valuation. Liu’s innovative approach, embodied in TVision’s technology, is paving the way for a new understanding of what it means to capture and hold viewer attention. It’s a shift from a quantity-focused paradigm to one where quality, context, and engagement are paramount. In this new landscape, advertisers, networks, and content creators are empowered with insights that go beyond traditional metrics, enabling them to connect with audiences in more meaningful and impactful ways. Yan Liu’s vision, thus, is not just redefining TV measurement; it is reshaping the very fabric of how television’s value is perceived and leveraged in an increasingly complex and fragmented media world.
Yan Liu’s narrative is more than a story of business success; it’s a parable for our times. In a world where our gaze is fragmented by endless streams of content, Liu’s work at TVision seeks to understand not just what we watch, but how we watch. It’s a journey that transcends technology, touching on the very essence of human attention in the digital age. Liu isn’t just measuring viewership; he’s mapping the uncharted territories of our collective attention, one flickering screen at a time.
