BARB is to begin the measurement of TV viewing on PCs, laptops and tablet devices with the introduction of a web TV viewing meter in 100 of its BARB panel homes in the second half of 2011.
Initially the research organisation will monitor the data production process and the impact of the meter in participating homes.
It is planned that the new meter will then be extended to 1,100 homes on the BARB panel during 2012 with an estimated 2,500 people participating in this measurement process.
Bjarne Thelin, chief executive of BARB, said the rollout of the web TV meter demonstrates the organisation’s long-standing commitment to the development of TV audience measurement. “We will continually consider and verify the web TV measurement technique so that we can confirm the appropriateness of this approach for BARB. Following this initial stage we’ll evaluate the value of proceeding further and with the industry we will assess how this data can best be utilised and applied.
“The prospect of a measurement which enables web-TV viewing to be examined alongside television set viewing, from a single source, will have a number of applications. It’s likely that the greatest initial learnings will come from data aggregated over time.”
The rollout of the software to homes on the BARB panel follows a year-long test project that completed in May 2011.
BARB will utilise software meter technology from Kantar Media, research supplier for the core BARB service.