Dimension: viewer

In this topic, you will learn about the Analytics API viewer dimension. The viewer dimension provides analytics by viewer.

Introduction

The viewer dimension allows you to look at analytics by viewer. If viewer ids are not sent to the analytics data collector from the player, we will try to construct a viewer id from the viewer's IP address and user-agent - this method is prone to error, however. Viewer analytics are most useful if you have logged in viewers and therefore can identify them reliably.

URL parameters

Analytics API reports support the following URL parameters.

URL Parameters
Parameter Description Required Values Default
account The accounts you want to report on yes one or more account ids as a comma-delimited list none
dimensions The dimension(s) to report on yes one or more dimensions as a comma-delimited list (some combinations are not valid - use the interactive tool here to determine if a combination is valid) none
where Used to specify filters for reports no {dimension}=={value} - one or more as a semi-colon-delimited list. The value will be one or more values for the primary metric of that dimension. For example: account==account_id, country=country-code, or viewer=viewer_id (in the last case, the form of the viewer_id will vary depending on whether you are capturing and sending some kind of viewer_id yourself or depending on the value generated by the analytics system). none
limit Number of items to return no positive integer 10
offset Number of items to skip no positive integer 0
sort Field to sort items on no any field that is being returned by the request video_view
fields Fields to return no varies according to the dimension you are reporting on video,video_view
format Format to return results in no json (default) | csv | xlxs json
reconciled If included, will limit results to either historical or realtime data. Analytics data is derived from multiple sources: some is sent by the player, but other data is collected from CDNs and the Video Cloud system. In order to deliver analytics as quickly as possible, we start delivering "real-time" data as soon as it is available, and then adjust the analytics later when data from all sources has been collected and processed. The fully processed data is called reconciled no true | false true
from The beginning of the date range for the request no One of the following:
  • An ISO 8601 date (YYYY-MM-DD)
  • Epoch time in milliseconds (example: 1659641316719 [= Thursday, August 4, 2022 7:28:36.719 PM GMT]). See the Epoch time converter.
  • A string: from=alltime
  • +/- relative dates in days (d), weeks (w), or months (m) - example: from=-6m&to=%2B2w (the period from 6 months ago to 2 weeks after that -- note that the + sign needs to be URI encoded as %2B)

Only dates within the past 32 days are allowed for engagement endpoints or if reconciled=false.

 -30d
to The end of the date range for the request no One of the following:
  • An ISO 8601 date (YYYY-MM-DD)
  • Epoch time in milliseconds (example: 1659641316719 [= Thursday, August 4, 2022 7:28:36.719 PM GMT]). See the Epoch time converter.
  • A string: to=now
  • +/- relative dates in days (d), weeks (w), or months (m) - example: from=-6m&to=%2B2w (the period from 6 months ago to 2 weeks after that -- note that the + sign needs to be URI encoded as %2B)

Only dates within the past 32 days are allowed for engagement endpoints or if reconciled=false.

 now

Fields available

The following fields can be returned for the dimension.

  • application - the virtual event experience id. If not passed, will be null
  • engagement_score - engagement score
  • video_engagement_1 - video engagement at 1% of the duration
  • video_engagement_25 - video engagement at 25% of the duration
  • video_engagement_50 - video engagement at 50% of the duration
  • video_engagement_75 - video engagement at 75% of the duration
  • video_engagement_100 - video engagement at 100% of the duration
  • time - the epoch time of the last event received
  • video_view - the number of times viewer playback began
  • viewer[1] - Event viewer (SSO ID or device id or unique string based on user-agent and IP)

Additional fields are available if the query also includes the relevant dimension(s):

  • city - the city the viewer was in (requires the city dimension)
  • country - the country (code) the viewer was in (requires the country dimension)
  • country_name - the country name the viewer was in (requires the country dimension)
  • region - the region (code) the viewer was in (requires the region dimension)
  • region_name - the region name the viewer was in (requires the region dimension)
  • rebuffering_seconds - the total time that the players spent rebuffering (requires that the country or region be included)
  • device_type - the device type the viewer was using (requires the device_type dimension)

Sending the viewer id

To send a viewer id to to the analytics system, you must create the logic to construct a unique id that will identify the viewer at runtime and then send it to the analytics data collector from the player. The logic to construct the id will depend on how viewers authenticate to see your content.The Brightcove web player and both the iOS and Android SDK players can send the user id to analytics. the following sections show you how to do this for the web and SDK players.

Send viewer id - Brightcove player

First, you need to set the user identifier to store that user's viewing activity.

Brightcove Player

If you are using Brightcove Player, follow these steps:

  1. Even though viewer data is sent to Brightcove analytics automatically, you need to set the user identifier. To do this, use the setUser() method. For example: 

    myPlayer.bcAnalytics.client.setUser('viewer id');

    On your websites that host Brightcove Player, you can use an authentication gateway or some identity management solution to keep track of viewers. Use this viewer id as the viewer identifier to pass to Brightcove analytics.

  2. It is important to set the viewer id before any source is set on the player. It should be called immediately after initializing the player. 

    <video-js
  id="myPlayerID"
  data-account="1752604059001"
  data-player="hyQW6GByl"
  data-embed="default"
  controls=""
  data-video-id="6156696074001"
  data-playlist-id=""
  data-application-id=""
  width="640" height="360"></video-js>
<script src="https://players.brightcove.net/1752604059001/hyQW6GByl_default/index.min.js"></script>

<script>
  videojs.getPlayer('myPlayerID').ready(function() {
    var myPlayer = this;

    // Set the viewer id for Brightcove analytics
    myPlayer.bcAnalytics.client.setUser('viewer id');
  });
</script>
  3. When the setUser() method is used, the value is not hashed and will be sent in the clear with all subsequent beacons.

    Note that the player_init event will not include the user field in this case, but all video_* events should include it.

Custom web player

If you are building a custom implementation that does not use Brightcove Player, add the user parameter to your Data Collection API requests. For details, see the Overview: Data Collection API v2 document.

On your websites that host your player, you can use an authentication gateway or some identity management solution to keep track viewers. Use this viewer id as the viewer identifier to pass to Brightcove analytics.

For the Brightcove Native SDK players, you also need to send a viewer id unless you are depending on the one generated by Brightcove.

Android

For the Android player, add this code:

HashMap<String, String> baseParams = new HashMap<>();
  baseParams.put(Analytics.Fields.USER, "viewer id");
  baseParams.put(Analytics.Fields.APPLICATION_ID, "application id");
  
  HashMap<String, Object> eventParams = new HashMap<>();
  eventParams.put(Analytics.Fields.BASE_PARAMS, baseParams);
  eventEmitter.emit(EventType.ADD_ANALYTICS_BASE_PARAMS, eventParams);

iOS

For iOS or tvOS, add the following code:

@try
  {
    [BCOVGlobalConfiguration.sharedConfig setValue:@{
      @"privateUser": self.viewer id,
      @"privateApplication": @"application id"
    }
    forKey:@"privateSessionAnalytics"];
  }
  @catch (NSException *e)
  {
    NSLog(@"%@", e.description);
  }

Filter values

Used as a filter, a dimension allows you to narrow the results.

Filter values: viewer ids

Combining dimensions

The viewer dimension can be combined with several others, which add addition fields that can be retrieved. The details are in the table below. (Bold items are included in the response by default if the dimension is included.)

Supported Dimension Combinations
Dimension Additional Fields
video video
video_engagement_1
video_engagement_25
video_engagement_50
video_engagement_75
video_engagement_100
video_percent_viewed
video_seconds_viewed
video_view
video.tags
video.reference_id
video.name
video.description
video.long_description
video.duration
country country
country_name
region region
region_name
city city
dma
device_type device_type

Request Examples

Dimension request sample

    https://analytics.api.brightcove.com/v1/data?accounts=3365624256001&dimensions=viewer&limit=10&fields=viewer,time,video_view,engagement_score
Sample Response 
{
  "item_count": 8,
  "items": [
    {
      "engagement_score": null,
      "viewer": "6798840584846290049",
      "time": 1623870475157,
      "video_view": 0
    },
    {
      "engagement_score": 100,
      "viewer": "-1094565064376617663",
      "time": 1623870472882,
      "video_view": 1
    },
    {
      "engagement_score": 100,
      "viewer": "8997125557862445199",
      "time": 1623870433989,
      "video_view": 1
    },
    {
      "engagement_score": 39.13,
      "viewer": "-8839675754655082792",
      "time": 1623872904633,
      "video_view": 1
    },
    {
      "engagement_score": 143.48,
      "viewer": "-6771654281667224776",
      "time": 1623869869930,
      "video_view": 2
    }
  ],
  "summary": {
    "engagement_score": 110.51,
    "time": 1623875119506,
    "video_view": 12
  }
}

Multi-dimension request sample

    https://analytics.api.brightcove.com/v1/data?accounts=3365624256001&dimensions=viewer,country,region,city,video,device_type&limit=10&fields=viewer,time,video_view,engagement_score,video_percent_viewed,video_seconds_viewed,video_engagement_1,video_engagement_25,video_engagement_50,video_engagement_75,video_engagement_100,video.tags,video.reference_id,video.name,video.description,video.duration,video.long_description,dma,country_name,region_name
Sample Response 
{
  "item_count": 8,
  "items": [
    {
      "country": "MX",
      "viewer": "6798840584846290049",
      "video.name": "Bison",
      "video_seconds_viewed": 23,
      "video_engagement_75": 1,
      "city": "Zapopan",
      "device_type": "desktop",
      "video": "5754204614001",
      "video_engagement_50": 1,
      "video.description": "Bison in Yellowstone National Park",
      "video.reference_id": null,
      "video_percent_viewed": 100,
      "country_name": "Mexico",
      "region_name": null,
      "video_engagement_25": 1,
      "video.long_description": "Bison in Yellowstone National Park. This is the long description.  This was filmed in Yellowstone National Park.",
      "video.duration": 23295,
      "video_engagement_100": 1,
      "engagement_score": null,
      "video_engagement_1": 1,
      "video.tags": [
        "animals",
        "simulive",
        "yellowstone"
      ],
      "dma": "0",
      "time": 1623870475157,
      "video_view": 0,
      "region": "MX-JAL"
    },
    {
      "country": "US",
      "viewer": "-8839675754655082792",
      "video.name": "Bison",
      "video_seconds_viewed": 9,
      "video_engagement_75": 0,
      "city": "Safety Harbor",
      "device_type": "desktop",
      "video": "5754204614001",
      "video_engagement_50": 0,
      "video.description": "Bison in Yellowstone National Park",
      "video.reference_id": null,
      "video_percent_viewed": 39.13,
      "country_name": "United States",
      "region_name": "Florida",
      "video_engagement_25": 1,
      "video.long_description": "Bison in Yellowstone National Park. This is the long description.  This was filmed in Yellowstone National Park.",
      "video.duration": 23295,
      "video_engagement_100": 0,
      "engagement_score": 39.13,
      "video_engagement_1": 1,
      "video.tags": [
        "animals",
        "simulive",
        "yellowstone"
      ],
      "dma": "539",
      "time": 1623872904633,
      "video_view": 1,
      "region": "US-FL"
    },
    {
      "country": "US",
      "viewer": "-1094565064376617663",
      "video.name": "Bison",
      "video_seconds_viewed": 23,
      "video_engagement_75": 1,
      "city": "Boulder",
      "device_type": "desktop",
      "video": "5754204614001",
      "video_engagement_50": 1,
      "video.description": "Bison in Yellowstone National Park",
      "video.reference_id": null,
      "video_percent_viewed": 100,
      "country_name": "United States",
      "region_name": "Colorado",
      "video_engagement_25": 1,
      "video.long_description": "Bison in Yellowstone National Park. This is the long description.  This was filmed in Yellowstone National Park.",
      "video.duration": 23295,
      "video_engagement_100": 1,
      "engagement_score": 100,
      "video_engagement_1": 1,
      "video.tags": [
        "animals",
        "simulive",
        "yellowstone"
      ],
      "dma": "751",
      "time": 1623870472882,
      "video_view": 1,
      "region": "US-CO"
    },
    {
      "country": "US",
      "viewer": "8997125557862445199",
      "video.name": "Bison",
      "video_seconds_viewed": 23,
      "video_engagement_75": 1,
      "city": "Boulder",
      "device_type": "desktop",
      "video": "5754204614001",
      "video_engagement_50": 1,
      "video.description": "Bison in Yellowstone National Park",
      "video.reference_id": null,
      "video_percent_viewed": 100,
      "country_name": "United States",
      "region_name": "Colorado",
      "video_engagement_25": 1,
      "video.long_description": "Bison in Yellowstone National Park. This is the long description.  This was filmed in Yellowstone National Park.",
      "video.duration": 23295,
      "video_engagement_100": 1,
      "engagement_score": 100,
      "video_engagement_1": 1,
      "video.tags": [
        "animals",
        "simulive",
        "yellowstone"
      ],
      "dma": "751",
      "time": 1623870433989,
      "video_view": 1,
      "region": "US-CO"
    },
    {
      "country": "US",
      "viewer": "-4530870087560842176",
      "video.name": "Bison",
      "video_seconds_viewed": 46,
      "video_engagement_75": 2,
      "city": "Newton Center",
      "device_type": "desktop",
      "video": "5754204614001",
      "video_engagement_50": 2,
      "video.description": "Bison in Yellowstone National Park",
      "video.reference_id": null,
      "video_percent_viewed": 200,
      "country_name": "United States",
      "region_name": "Massachusetts",
      "video_engagement_25": 2,
      "video.long_description": "Bison in Yellowstone National Park. This is the long description.  This was filmed in Yellowstone National Park.",
      "video.duration": 23295,
      "video_engagement_100": 2,
      "engagement_score": 100,
      "video_engagement_1": 2,
      "video.tags": [
        "animals",
        "simulive",
        "yellowstone"
      ],
      "dma": "506",
      "time": 1623875061754,
      "video_view": 2,
      "region": "US-MA"
    },
    {
      "country": "MX",
      "viewer": "-6771654281667224776",
      "video.name": "Bison",
      "video_seconds_viewed": 66,
      "video_engagement_75": 1,
      "city": "Zapopan",
      "device_type": "desktop",
      "video": "5754204614001",
      "video_engagement_50": 1,
      "video.description": "Bison in Yellowstone National Park",
      "video.reference_id": null,
      "video_percent_viewed": 286.96,
      "country_name": "Mexico",
      "region_name": null,
      "video_engagement_25": 1,
      "video.long_description": "Bison in Yellowstone National Park. This is the long description.  This was filmed in Yellowstone National Park.",
      "video.duration": 23295,
      "video_engagement_100": 1,
      "engagement_score": 143.48,
      "video_engagement_1": 1,
      "video.tags": [
        "animals",
        "simulive",
        "yellowstone"
      ],
      "dma": "0",
      "time": 1623869869930,
      "video_view": 2,
      "region": "MX-JAL"
    }
  ],
  "summary": {
    "video_seconds_viewed": 305,
    "video_engagement_75": 10,
    "video_engagement_25": 11,
    "video_engagement_50": 10,
    "video_engagement_100": 10,
    "engagement_score": 110.51,
    "video_engagement_1": 11,
    "video_percent_viewed": 1326.09,
    "country_name": null,
    "region_name": null,
    "time": 1623875119506,
    "video_view": 12,
    "account": "3365624256001"
  }
}