BARB Can Measure The TV Audience Today But What About Tomorrow?

Speaking At Today’s O&M Technofair Bob Hulks, Chief Executive of BARB, spoke about the benefits which the new panel offers to advertisers as well as how the service will develop into the next century, answering a number of recent criticisms on the way.

The benefits of the new panel he high- lighted as being a) an enhancd sample size (50% larger), which with disproportionate sampling improved coverage of some target audiences by 200%, b) coverage of 280 different target audiences. The addition of Register Meal product groupings, allowing direct comparisons with othermedia for the first time was also seen as advantageous, as was the inclusion of ‘PIN’ and ‘FINPIN’ data. Expansion of the sample size for the Establish- ment Survey plus the switch to quarterly reporting were both seen as significant in such a dynamic market as cable and satellite.

With regard to recently voiced criticisms about the service he stated that BARB had been designed to deliver ratings, not to determine ‘quality’ of viewing, and that a BARB rating was no more than a ‘presence in the room’. The company’s remit was to show viewing in private domestic households, and thatthey do not attempt to cover ‘out of home’ viewing – he did however welcome the recent Continental Research initiative into pub viewing.

The 15 second persistence level used to counteract ‘zappers’, but which a number of agencies do not feel is appropriately reported for commercials was, he revealed, being discussed currently by BARB’s Technical Group.

Looking at the future Hulk, whilst highlighting the fact that BARB meters were using state of the art technology that would carry them through at least until 1997 when their contract expires,did question how researchers would cope with for example, non-mains portable televisions and flat screens, as well as the ‘video on demand’ phenomena of the USA.