Barb is incorporating viewing of YouTube channels into an expanded measurement initiative for YouTube content viewed on TV sets, in what the joint industry currency (JIC) claims is a world-first.
In partnership with SeeViews, which specialises in planning ad campaigns on YouTube, Barb is selecting 200 channels that will become part of its daily audience reporting on the platform.
Viewing data across the channels will be reported beginning in Q3. The channels will be chosen based on volumes of viewing and categorised by type of content creator using SeeViews’ Quality View framework.
The framework includes five channel categories: “created for TV” (content professionally produced for TV by broadcasters), “created by media” (content professionally produced by reputable media companies), “created by icons” (content professionally produced by celebrities), “created like TV” (content professionally produced for YouTube in a familiar TV format) and “high value creators” (content profesisonally produced by influencers that have amassed a large, loyal following).
Barb said the channels will meet industry-agreed standards for brand safety.
The Media Leader understands that while the channels will be chosen on the basis of their likelihood of being watched on TV sets, Barb is also exploring ways to ensure its list of included channels is complementary to the YouTube channels already measured on non-TV devices by Ipsos Iris and UKOM.
Should broadcasters be embracing YouTube?
Barb first began reporting how people use a TV set to watch broadcasters’ official content on YouTube in 2021. Both Channel 4 and ITV have struck partnerships with YouTube to make full episodes of programmes available to users on the video-sharing platform.
Kantar Media, which collects household data for Barb’s TV audience panel, will also be tasked with identifying when YouTube channels are being watched by Barb panel members on TV sets.
To do so, it will use audio-matching automatic content recognition technology alongside URL detection via router meters installed in Barb panel homes.
The initiative follows a successful proof-of-concept pilot run by Kantar for Barb in November 2024. It tracked 175 videos from 12 popular YouTube channels featuring a mix of children’s content, celebrity YouTubers and music videos.
Barb CEO Justin Sampson called the announcement the latest example that “Barb’s innovation programme continues to bear fruit”.
“In recent years, we have gone beyond broadcasters and beyond linear to deliver a fundamental step-change in our industry’s understanding of how people watch programmes and ads,” he said.
Sampson said the new data will meet “several needs” across the ad industry, acknowledging that brands and their agencies are “looking for more insight into the most-watched editorial environments on YouTube, while programme-makers use our data to inform the commissioning process”.
He continued: “We’re starting to deliver on a commitment to report more of the content people watch on YouTube. This commitment came off the back of an industry consultation which established a buy-side consensus on the need for transparent reporting of content with contextual indicators of quality.”
According to Barb data, last year was the first time TV sets accounted for the largest proportion of in-house, Wi-Fi-based YouTube viewing.
In 2024, 41% of all YouTube viewing among consumers aged four and over was on TV sets, compared with 31% for smartphones.
‘Fit for TV’ YouTube channels drive higher ad attention than non-premium video
