BARB Trials Portable Meters With Radio Body

BARB has committed to a one-year joint research and development initiative with RAJAR to give the broadcasting research body a more rounded understanding of the potential for portable meters for television measurement.

The scheme, which will be put into operation at the beginning of next year, will not form part of BARB’s offering of data to the industry but will exist to determine whether such techniques could be expected to deliver future benefits.

BARB and RAJAR’s joint initiative does not anticipate cross-media measurement of TV and radio but rather exists to improve efficiency for both organisations.

“Each organisation will have sovereignty over the data for the medium they represent,” said chief executive of BARB, Bjarne Thelin. “This project provides BARB with an opportunity to generate a lot of learning and will exist purely to give us more information on the viability of techniques in possible design systems.”

MD of RAJAR, Sally de la Bedoyere, added: “It’s important that RAJAR remains focused on the challenges of radio measurement and BARB on developments in television.” RAJAR had a press conference this morning announcing the joint initiative (see RAJAR Announces 2007 Measurement Contract Details).

It is likely that BARB will need to develop techniques supplementary to its existing fixed wire electronic measurement in the future in view of the expected increase in viewer control. Last week BARB announced that it was set to test a prototype device for measuring interactive TV viewing (see BARB To Trial iTV Barcoding.)

BARB: www.barb.co.uk