Sky News Boosted By New Measurement System
Out of home viewing helped Sky News to see its daily audience more than double during the first days of the war in Iraq, according to the findings of GfK’s controversial new audience measurement survey.
The research, which uses an electronic wristwatch device to audit broadcast audiences, shows that the rolling news channel saw its average audience jump from 4.1 million in the five weekdays leading up to the conflict, to 10.2 million in the five weekdays immediately following the outbreak of war.
The time spent watching the channel was also found to have increased during the same period, with the average number of minutes spent watching Sky News climbing from 33 to 76 following the first allied invasion.
Commenting on the findings, Nick North, director of GfK Media, said: “This clearly shows the high demand for news coverage during the conflict. Looking at these numbers we can identify the strong effect of out-of-home viewing on Sky News’ total reach – evidence of the channel being watched in pubs, bars and in the workplace.
GfK also claims that of the BBC’s radio stations, Five Live showed the biggest increase in listening, with its average daily reach doubling from 3.1 million in the run up to the war, to 6.2 million during the conflict.
The survey, commissioned by Kelvin MacKenzie’s Wireless Group, could challenge the existing industry systems by offering advertisers a single port of call for television and radio audience measurement.
Last week the first wave of research provoked criticism by suggesting that speech based radio stations are more popular than under the official system of audience measurement. RAJAR’S managing director, Jane O’Hara, disputed the findings, claiming they would have no effect on the company’s current research methodology (see New Study To Shake-Up Audience Measurement?).
GfK: 0870 603 8339 www.gfk.com
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