UKTV is joining the board of TV audience measurement body BARB, it has been announced.
Simon Brown, UKTV’s executive director of strategy, insight & regulatory affairs, will be appointed to BARB’s board of directors, joining representatives from other UK broadcasters and trade bodies to govern the Joint Industry Currency.
BARB was established in 1981 under the governance of the BBC, IPA and ITV. The ownership structure was expanded in 1999 with the arrival of Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky, and advertisers have been represented at board level through ISBA since 2008.
UKTV is a commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive which operates ten channel brands operating across a range of genres, including Dave and Gold.
UKTV Play also features in BARB’s TV Player Report, the first joint-industry audited measurement of online TV viewing.
“For 35 years BARB has been delivering gold standard audience measurement for the industry that owns us,” said Nigel Sharrocks, chairman of BARB.
“An independent currency is paramount for programme makers and advertisers to justify return on their investments. BARB can deliver this because the breadth of the industry is represented on our board. We’re delighted to welcome UKTV and look forward to its contribution to our service development.”
The UK’s television industry spends £7.5bn each year on the production and distribution of programme and commercial content. BARB reports viewing up to four weeks after linear broadcast for over 330 channels. It also reports viewing for non-linear programmes and dynamically inserted advertising.
Darren Childs, chief executive of UKTV, added: “The television industry is going through an unprecedented change and robust audience measurement has never been more important. We are looking forward to working with the BARB board to ensure measurement remains fit for purpose and we all continue to benefit from a single currency in the VOD and OTT world.”
