BARB To Trial iTV Barcoding

TV ratings body BARB is set to test a prototype device for measuring interactive TV viewing.

The device, developed by BBC Research and Development, is a form of visual barcoding that tracks viewer interaction with iTV applications through a unique tag inserted on each page.

However the news means that BARB is still a long way off being able to actually measure red-button usage. Even if the trials are successful, information on interactive usage will not be available for some time.

“We expect to be at a point later this year when we can decide whether or not to proceed with rolling out the visual barcoding method,” said BARB Chief Executive Bjarne Thelin. “We’d expect it to be a good number of months before we can start reporting any robust viewing data.”

The lack of data on interactive services has limited the growth of the iTV industry since Unilever launched the first red-button campaign more than six years ago.

BARB: www.barb.co.uk