BARB Data Suspended Until 15 January

The first figures from the new BARB system will not be available until 15 January, leaving the increasingly numbers-fixated TV industry without ratings data for the opening weeks of 2002. Overnight ratings for the first couple of days of the year were due for release yesterday, but were suspended before BARB admitted that further diagnostic checks would need to be undertaken before live or consolidated data is made available.

A statement on the BARB website today says: “This is the first time in over 30 years that a new panel is being recruited entirely from scratch, and given the complexities of the service, we feel it is prudent to ensure that the entire system is thoroughly checked and meets BARB’s high standards before releasing data.”

At a presentation of the new system to the industry in November, BARB chief executive Caroline McDevitt warned that there were likely to be “teething problems” as the new system was introduced (see BARB Presents New Research System) but with the shadow operation having been run since October 2000, the changeover had been expected to be smooth.

BARB: 020 7529 5531 www.barb.co.uk

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