Freesat has launched the first live audience measurement service for free-to-air television.
The system runs on an audience attribution platform developed by TVbeat. Real time anonymised data is captured from over 100,000 connected Freesat set-top boxes, all of whom have opted in to share their data. The TV beat platform then instantly processes the information that’s displayed in a simple online dashboard.
It shows viewer behaviour across channels and programmes to a high level of granularity.
Alistair Thom, Managing Director of Freesat, said: “The insights provided by a combination of real-time data, scale and granularity will, we believe, have a significant and positive effect on the broadcast industry. More importantly, it will benefit viewers, as it enables broadcasters to respond quickly and precisely to their preferences. Ultimately this real-time, granular measurement system will help to maintain a robust free-to-air TV market in the UK.”
As well as real-time linear TV viewing data, the service returns behavioural information related to time-shifted and on-demand viewing, and can be segmented by users’ location, viewing duration and resolution. The system provides accurate viewing figures for TV, on demand throughout the day. For the first time broadcasters will have the opportunity to act on the data in real-time – such as by optimising programming within and around a show while it is still airing.
Robert Farazin, Founder of TVbeat, added: “We believe the future of TV is about generating the most relevant cross-screen experience and leveraging real-time audience data. With Freesat’s deep, raw datasets, and TVbeat’s fast and efficient platform we are able to process and contextualise data and provide insights which will be of immense value to broadcasters and programme makers both now and in the future.”
Freesat is now available in over 1.93 million households and is watched by more than four million viewers every week.
Freesat introduced its Freetime connected TV box in June 2013. It was the first to bring an HTML5 version of the leading catch up TV services including the BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub and All 4.