Abstract:

In September 2000 the Cable and Satellite Committee and the French Cable and Satellite Channels Association (ACCeS) decided to launch Mediacabsat, the new audience measurement system for the new thematic programme generation. Until this time, thematic channel audiences were measured with an annual diary survey. However TV supply was booming and what fit well with some channels did not with hundreds. Such an important part of the market could not be deliberately ignored. The decision was therefore made toward audiometric methodology. The new survey submits the complementary audiovisual landscape to a heightened investigation of every channel. Mediacabsat was conceived by all those concerned: editors, distributors, publishers, announcers and their advisers, searching together the best measure, with the best quality-price ratio and for the sake of general interest. Mediacabsat is adaptable as the landscape itself changes, for instance as interactive services or Terrestrial Digital TV develops.