Startup Predicts Streaming Success

The entertainment industry relies on ratings, primarily from mega-firm Nielsen, to measure the value of television shows. With the emerging popularity of streaming and subscription services, producers and platforms are searching for new technology to gauge success.

Parrot Analytics, an international start-up with headquarters in New York, tracks viewer enthusiasm. Using a metric that measures the value and meaning of a show to a streamer, Parrot not only counts viewers but calculates their interest and excitement.

Known as “demand expressions,” this measure amalgamates a bunch of “signals” across the internet, including Google search terms, “likes,” downloads, and traffic to relevant Wikipedia articles. With that information, Parrot can also anticipate the most important factor for any streaming network: how many subscribers a show is likely to attract.

Wared Seger, chief executive of Parrot, said the founding principle of the startup was the need to account for seismic shifts in viewing habits.

“We could each be watching different shows, on different platforms, at different times. You need a new standard.”

-Wared Seger, CEO of Parrot Analytics