Sky View To Launch By End Of 2005
BSkyB’s audience measurement panel, Sky View, will launch at the end of the year, with the satellite giant outlining plans to release the first set of data on exactly how many people press the red button.
The news will be welcomed by the interactive television industry, after initial results from the viewing panel had been put back later in the year due to delays, resulting in the information not being collected from set-top boxes until Q3 of this year at the earliest.
The first phase of Sky View Research is scheduled to launch in Q4 of this year, offering details of users interaction with red-button advertisements via the service information code embedded in DAL’s.
The second phase of research into iTV advertising is thought to begin as early as 2006, with Sky examining mini-DALs and impulse-response formats.
Commenting on the technology, Julian Dobinson, head of research at Sky Media said: “We’re confident that Sky View will help us provide advertisers with a level of consumer understanding and accountability they have never had before.”
Sky will make the initial findings of the research available to key agencies, but will keep valuable data on multi-channel viewing and PVR use to itself.
Recently, the British Audience Research Board (BARB) announced plans to enhance its overnight ratings service in anticipation of incorporating playback viewing undertaken through the Sky+ box (see BARB Restructures Over Night Ratings Service).
Viewing On Same Day As Live (VOSDAL) figures will now incorporate this same day playback viewing within the overnight audiences. For example, if a viewer decides to playback a drama at a different time to its scheduled slot, but on the same day, this viewing will be included in the overnight ratings for that drama.
BARB’s live figures will still be available, and seven-day consolidated figures will remain unchanged. However, the same-day playback VOSDAL figures will provide a sensible means of accessing audience data on the day after transmission.