BARB Awards Four Six-Year Research Contracts
BARB has entered into four new contracts – with RSMB, Ipsos MORI and TNS – for provision of research services that will support the BARB service from January 1, 2008.
BARB (a joint company of BBC, ITV, Channel 4, five, BSkyB and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) said that its aim has been to, “devise a system that will service current needs while being adaptable to the demands of a new decade of television.”
A contract for survey design, quality control & calculation methodology has been awarded to RSMB – taking on an increasingly future-facing role to consider new televisual distribution routes.
The second contract, covering BARB’s establishment survey, has been awarded to Ipsos MORI and will survey the characteristics of the television-owning population and include an element of direct recruitment for the viewing panel.
The third contract, awarded to TNS, is a recruitment function to establish and maintain the new BARB viewing panel. This function has been upgraded to draw on a greater field force.
The fourth, covering meter panel installation, data retrieval, processing and audience reporting functions, has also been awarded to TNS.
BARB already reports playback from VCRs, PVRs and DVD Recorders, and the new system will have capacity to measure more timeshift, extending to encompass VOD services consumed via TV sets.
A new non-linear database is also expected to be introduced for timeshifted viewing beyond the seven days included in the main BARB databases, and stand-alone pieces of content available on-demand via TV sets.
BARB expects to trial PC monitoring via both fixed meters and software metering and, if successful, will consider rolling functionality throughout the full panel. Potential extension to laptops and transportable devices could also be forthcoming, said BARB.
BARB has an option to test an approach to wireless metering which combines the TNS Fixed Meter to which BARB is committing for its base service, with the PPM (Portable People Meter) from Arbitron.
RSMB and Ipsos MORI hold similar contracts in the current service. TNS previously held contracts for the operation of the BARB Panel and the delivery of the service prior to 2002, when AGB Nielsen Media Research (formerly ATR UK) took over delivery of the service.
The new service will be designed around a UK panel rather than overlapping regional panels and aims to be more representative of the distribution of the population.
Regional reporting will still be facilitated, and regional controls will still apply. BARB’s viewing panel sample size remains at 5,100 homes but the research group said that owing to these design improvements, statistical benefits will be forthcoming.
Although the new service will commence in January 2010, BARB is working towards the system being tested by 2009 and fully reporting in a parallel run mode during the second quarter of 2009.
Bjarne Thelin, BARB chief executive, said: “BARB has considered numerous innovative proposals over a rigorous 16-month tendering process. Only a handful are sufficiently proven to be accepted by the industry at present.
“BARB is committing to a system (based around TNS’ Fixed Meter) which is state of the art, but with potential to be further developed to incorporate new techniques and keep pace with a rapidly changing industry.”
David Lowden, chief executive of TNS, said: “We welcome BARB’s decision to switch to TNS with enthusiasm and excitement. The return of the BARB contract to TNS is recognition of our many years of experience in the media industry and our ability to address the future audience measurement needs of the world of TV.
“Media fragmentation calls for the ability to deliver a total picture of viewing habits. TNS demonstrated to BARB that we have the expertise to do that in the next decade. TNS delivered a unique, fully integrated future-ready solution that demonstrated our understanding of the changing TV industry.”
BARB: www.barb.co.uk