If it is said that two years ago, because data users bribed sample households, the data was inaccurate and the ratings were falsified; So this time, it's different from two years ago. The falsification of ratings is considered to be a problem for data producers. Some public opinion accused investigators of tampering with data and participating in fraud, while investigators claimed to have been hacked. Although there is no conclusion, after two years of high-profile criticism by People's Daily, ratings fraud has not been effectively curbed, but has intensified, and even turned from underground to public, which makes people ask: Why are ratings fraud repeatedly banned? What are the fraud loopholes and what are the motives? Is there an alternative investigation method? How to establish laws, regulations and supervision mechanism in line with China's national conditions? To answer these questions, let's first go back to the original point and see what the ratings are and how they came from.

First, common sense cognition: what is the audience rating?

The so-called ratings are simply a measure of the size of TV viewers, a quantitative data, which is obtained from the ratings survey. The basic meaning of ratings refers to the percentage of viewers watching a channel or program in a certain period of time to the total audience in the market. For a rough analogy, suppose there are 100 viewers in market A, and if there are 10 viewers watching News Network, then the ratings of News Network in market A are 10%.

Audience rating is an exotic product, which originated from the United States in the 1930 s and has a history of more than 80 years. First, the listening rate, and then the ratings. Audience rating survey is a sampling survey of audience's viewing behavior based on probability theory and mathematical statistics. Its investigation mode and quantitative standard are basically universal in the world, and its technology is relatively mature.

In the real TV environment, ratings are often attached with different connotations and expectations. But there are two basic points: first, the audience rating is an effect indicator, and any communication should pursue the communication effect. Communication without effect is in vain. According to the theory of communication, effects are generally divided into three levels: one is cognitive effect, the other is psychological effect, and the third is behavioral effect. The ratings reflect the effect of the first level, that is, how many people watch a program (channel) and how long it has been watched. This is a quantitative information feedback.

As for other deeper influences, such as psychological influence or subsequent behavioral influence, ratings can't be reflected. Some people try to directly explain the psychological effect of the audience's evaluation of the likes and dislikes of the program through the ratings of the program, and then evaluate the program itself. Strictly speaking, these are beyond the feedback level of ratings, beyond the power of ratings-ratings can not directly explain people's attitudes and psychology, and can not directly evaluate the quality of programs.

Second, ratings are a kind of "industry currency", which is mainly used for the exchange of interests among TV stations, advertisers, advertisers and other parties, which is determined by the dual-selling characteristics of the TV industry. As we know, according to the viewpoint of media economics, there is a double exchange in the audio-visual market in the TV industry: one is to exchange and meet people's viewing needs through free communication, and the other is to "produce" their own unique products-the audience gathered in front of the TV and "sell" them to advertisers, and realize the value compensation of TV communication through the latter's advertising investment.

No matter what kind of communication, it is inseparable from the crucial ratings, which is an important basis for measuring the audience's attention and the value of TV time. TV stations, advertisers/advertisers and other relevant stakeholders should price and buy and sell advertising slots according to ratings, just as we all use RMB as the settlement unit when shopping in the domestic market.