Television ratings body BARB, has announced plans to start reporting viewing figures for PVR playback from stored content on Sky+ devices.
BARB has been working with its meter providers AGB Nielsen Media Research, and with BSkyB on the initiative for a number of months, with the scheme being activated in phases throughout September.
BSkyB has developed a means of extracting service information codes from the stored content in the PVR hard disk, enabling a BARB meter to identify and read them. The BARB meters have been modified by AGB Nielsen Media Research in order to accept the new code information and integrate it into BARB reporting.
Both the consolidated viewing figures, comparing live & seven-day timeshift, and BARB’s, viewing on same day as live, reporting of overnight ratings will be incorporated into the viewing figures. BARB claims the first opportunity for a four-week analysis covering all Sky+ homes on the BARB panel will be towards the end of October.
Sky+ playback will be subject to the same rules of reporting as other consolidated viewing, with fast forwarding not included in viewing figures.
Commenting on the new measuring system, Bjarne Thelin, chief executive of BARB, said: “Sky+ reporting is a major development for the BARB system and will provide the first daily reporting of PVR usage. It’s part of the developments that were anticipated when BARB extended its research contracts with suppliers at the end of last year.”
When the switch-on of Sky+ playback is completed, BARB will issue an official analysis of the first weeks of reporting. These will be initial figures and indicative for such devices. Results may be expected to change with seasonality, variations in programme schedules, as the take-up of the devices expands, and over longer periods of analysis.”
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