BARB, the audience measurement body for TV, has announced plans to work with Ipsos MORI on trials of the MediaCell Tablet Peoplemeter, a new technique for collecting television viewing data.
Involving 60 homes in London over a six-month period, the trial is to become the first substantial test of a meter design and comes as BARB ensures that the equipment it uses to collect data in its panel homes fits with consumer expectations of in-home technology.
Currently, BARB electronically tracks minute-by-minute viewing for over 12,000 people. Since the end of 2012, all new BARB panel homes have had software installed that allows BARB to know what is being watched on desktop and laptop computers, and by who.
However, the organisation’s chief executive, Justin Sampson, said that enhancements to the panel would be needed to “open the way to a hybrid future” of TV viewing.
The MediaCell Tablet Peoplemeter uses a combination of audio fingerprinting and audio watermarking to establish what is being watched, while panellists can also use the tablet’s touchscreen to register their presence in the room.
Alternatively, a remote control handset with buttons allocated to each household member can be used to record which individuals are in the room.
There are three key objectives of the trial:
– Determine the reliability of the device as it identifies which programmes and adverts are being watched.
– Examine whether a device such as the MediaCell Tablet Peoplemeter has a positive effect on the experience of panel members, with an eye to ensuring high participation and compliance rates.
– Establish whether Ipsos MORI’s back-end systems and reporting tools are effective at capturing the data and turning it into the viewing statements that are at the centre of the services delivered to customers.
“BARB has established Project Dovetail as the means by which we can integrate device-based data with the viewing data that comes from our panel homes,” said Sampson.
“This trial is part of another important element of our strategy, which is to ensure we continue to do the basics as well as we possibly can. Technology moves on and we need to understand how meters can keep pace with these changes, both in terms of how the equipment looks and the accuracy of the data capture techniques.”
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