CSM Media Research is the largest ratings agency (approx 85%) in China followed by AC Nielsen which occupies a smaller portion of the market (approx 10%). CSM does different kinds of tabulations like CSMNationwide, CSM52 Cities, etc.
Take Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms for example, which was a daily drama that aired on primetime (7:30 pm). Given the show’s popularity, I think it’s safe to say that it had a pretty good run. It was a show that aired on two channels simultaneously, earning a series high of 1.910% on Dragon TV and 1.518% on Zhejiang TV (see link).
| Date | Episode | CSM52 Ratings (%) | CSM52 Audience Share (%) | Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-01-30 | 1-2 | 0.597 | 1.907 | 3 |
| 2017-01-31 | 3-4 | 0.575 | 1.840 | 4 |
| 2017-02-01 | 5-6 | 0.479 | 1.473 | 7 |
| 2017-02-02 | 7-8 | 0.634 | 1.887 | 4 |
| 2017-02-03 | 9 | 0.722 | 2.059 | 4 |
| 2017-02-04 | 10 | 0.909 | 2.691 | 2 |
| 2017-02-05 | 11-12 | 1.134 | 3.206 | 2 |
| 2017-02-06 | 13-14 | 0.987 | 2.780 | 2 |
| 2017-02-07 | 15-16 | 1.036 | 2.817 | 3 |
| 2017-02-08 | 17-19 | 1.043 | 2.845 | 3 |
| 2017-02-09 | 20-22 | 1.129 | 3.120 | 2 |
| 2017-02-10 | 23 | 1.118 | 3.667 | 2 |
| 2017-02-11 | 24 | 0.971 | 2.869 | 1 |
| 2017-02-12 | 25-26 | 1.479 | 4.238 | 1 |
| 2017-02-13 | 27-28 | 1.511 | 4.281 | 1 |
| 2017-02-14 | 29-30 | 1.434 | 4.207 | 1 |
| 2017-02-15 | 31-32 | 1.401 | 3.968 | 1 |
| 2017-02-16 | 33-34 | 1.527 | 4.396 | 1 |
| 2017-02-17 | 35-36 | 1.630 | 4.528 | 1 |
| 2017-02-18 | 37 | 1.467 | 4.384 | 1 |
| 2017-02-19 | 38-39 | 1.629 | 4.534 | 1 |
| 2017-02-20 | 40-41 | 1.629 | 4.521 | 1 |
| 2017-02-21 | 42-43 | 1.576 | 4.344 | 1 |
| 2017-02-22 | 44-45 | 1.613 | 4.501 | 1 |
| 2017-02-23 | 46-47 | 1.568 | 4.429 | 1 |
| 2017-02-24 | 48-49 | 1.575 | 4.397 | 1 |
| 2017-02-25 | 50 | 1.600 | 4.615 | 1 |
| 2017-02-26 | 51-52 | 1.658 | 4.655 | 1 |
| 2017-02-27 | 53-54 | 1.674 | 4.978 | 1 |
| 2017-02-28 | 55-56 | 1.679 | 5.006 | 1 |
| 2017-03-01 | 57-58 | 1.910 | 5.542 | 1 |
| Average | 1-58 | 1.287 | 3.700 | 2 |
CSM Rating is the percentage of viewers watching the show against the total population in the region. It is time sensitive just because primetime tends to generate higher numbers than say, a show airing in the middle of the night. It doesn’t make the most sense to use CSM Ratings to compare shows from different timeslots even though it’s often done for ranking purposes.
Just a disclaimer that the above are merely from the perspective of a fan. If you have anything to add, please definitely share it in the comments section below.
Source: 1, 2
Tia
Thanks for the insight!
Anonymous
Thanks! Surprised Princess Agents did even better than Three Lives. Maybe because it aired in the summer.
Sunny
This is really interesting. Thanks for taking the time to explain.
Anonymous
Journey of Flower aired at 7pm, if I remember correctly. Also, the impressive thing about PA's ratings is that it is a weekly drama. That means it doesn't air every day. Viewers have to catch a couple episodes each week. This format tends to deliver lower ratings than daily dramas.
I wanted to add that CSM has different ways of measuring ratings. CSM52 would be the standard, which measures cities. Then they have CSM national average, which looks at a different set of sample household this time both in cities and rural areas. For some reason, Nielsen ratings are not taken as seriously to measure success.
Sunny
Also wasn't Princess Agents airing in the later slot (I think it's 10:00-00:00) too which usually doesn't get the highest ratings?
Anne J
yes, PA is impressive for the reasons you guys stated (i should include the part about PA not airing everyday to the post, thanks for bringing it up).
I didn't watch JoF when it was on Hunan but it's listed as having a similar timeslot which is 10pm. That's why even though PA did really well, there is still some disappointment that it didn't beat JoF.
Anonymous
I went back and took a look at JoF and you are right, it also aired at 10 pm Tuesdays-Wednesday so even less episodes per week. I afraid I got it confused with its rerun on CCTV which had an earlier time-slot.
I am glad PA didn't beat JoF, I just feel like JoF was more of a classic #sobiased 😛