BARB Extends Research Contracts Until 2009
Television audience measurement body BARB has announced that it will extend its research contracts for a further three years from 1st January 2007, giving the organisation responsibility for audience measurement until 2009.
BARB states that the extension will allow flexible evolution of its measurement service in the face of changes in the television industry. BARB will now work with contractors to develop its service over the next five years, adding new measurement capabilities including the ability to measure PVR usage and interactive TV viewing.
The BARB contracts are held by RSMB, responsible for sample design, calculation methodology, and quality control, Ipsos UK, responsible for the Establishment Survey, and ATR UK, responsible for metering, data collection and processing of data.
Commenting on the contract extension, BARB’s chief executive, Bjarne Thelin, said : “The current BARB measurement system was designed for the digital television environment. It is delivering well on a consistent basis and the design remains the most relevant base for the foreseeable future. We can maintain and expand its relevance by continual exploration of new methods and technologies and, where appropriate, integrate new approaches to upgrade the system.”
He added: “The current contractors and contract structure provide a sound framework within which to develop the system. This extension to 2009 allows us to work with them to plan for the television audience measurement systems of the future.”
Last month saw BARB announce the first steps towards measurement of interactive TV as it began to address the growing popularity of red-button services amongst digital viewers. The move sees the TV ratings body begin to answer increasingly vocal calls for action from the broadcasting and advertising community with investigations into possible equipment and methodology to handle the task.
According to Tony Wearn, BARB’s research director, the main techniques being investigated include identifying remote control activity to tag a minute as ‘interactive time’, and inserting codes into the visual output known as visual watermarking and visual barcoding (see BARB Investigating Interactive Measurement Systems).
In addition to new measurement techniques, BARB will shortly release the results of its Lifestyle Insights survey, designed to provide more information about viewers to advertisers and broadcasters (see
BARB Launches Lifestyle Survey To Enrich Ratings Data
BARB Launches Lifestyle Survey To Enrich Ratings Data www.barb.co.uk
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