In this research we recalibrated the peoplemeter in the AGB McNair New Zealand Peoplemeter Panel to produce second by second ratings, instead of the usual one minute ratings. We looked at audience ebb and flow during programmes, and, in particular, during commercial breaks. In contrast to previous research into audience behaviour during ad breaks, the peoplemeter is entirely unobtrusive and potentially measures what people actually do instead of what they say they do. The audience levels show a surprising amount of change, not just during commercial breaks and between programmes but even during programmes. A number of programmes show considerable build in audience in the first ten minutes. On the other hand, soaps, for instance, show strong viewer loyalty, even during advertising breaks. One of the major purposes of this research was to study television audience levels during commercial breaks. We show that television ratings drop during commercial breaks, but only by 5%. Furthermore, we show that viewers are potentially exposed to 90% of the content of the commercial break shown on the channel they were tuned to prior to the start of the break. We also show that ad avoidance is largely done at random, that is, there are very few personal or household characteristics that correlate with ad avoidance behaviour. Furthermore, it appears that characteristics of the ad break, such as number of ads in the break and length of ads, have an affect on the ad break ratings, but they are not substantial. Lastly, it is evident that viewers sense the timing pattern of ad breaks and their ad avoidance behaviour is dictated somewhat by this sense of patterning.
This paper sets out to summarise and to invite comment and criticism of the recently published 2nd edition of the EBU guidelines "Towards Harmonization of Television Audience Measurement Systems". It has been a collaborative venture involving representatives of all parties to the broadcast media business, from both the broadcasters themselves and from both the advertising agency and advertiser sectors. The principal emphasis of the paper is on what is new to the 2nd edition: The organisational principles desirable for a national system, to obtain wide-ranging user group participative consultation, methodological transparency and even-handed data access arrangements, Rather more than in the first edition of how to collect reliable and valid TV viewing data, via the peoplemeter as a device for registering the viewing behaviour of individual household members. Rather more than in the first edition on the issues of principle in the data reporting arrangements of a national system, and the low-cost powerful PC-based data access options open to the user. The challenges that lie around the comer. In particular we draw attention to the more immediate issues on which a consensus within the media research community has still to be reached, including: Selection of panel homes - probability procedures v panel controls. Enforced panel turnover. The definition of "viewing" Editing rules. Reporting algorithms. â Comprehensiveness of Channel reporting. Access to data, both at an aggregated and disaggregated level. Issues of standardisation in reporting conventions.
People use television in different ways and for different reasons. The variable use of television makes audience measurement challenging. The principles of measurement dictate that subjects which have a particular property should be included in a count, and those that do not, excluded. Additionally, the rules that govern inclusion and exclusion should be free of ambiguity. At present, U.S. television audience measurement is based on the concept of "watching." "Watching" is a subjective term that, when applied in a real-world setting, is open to many different interpretations â by those who measure, those who are measured, and those who use the information obtained from the measure. Thus, the system allows that two people who are doing the same thing may not be counted as equal. It will also allow the reverse -- that two people who are doing different things may be counted as equal. The ambiguity inherent in the current system led to an investigation of a simpler, more objective definition of the television audience -- "in-the-room with the TV set on." Nearly all of the people who are in the room with a tuned television set are involved with television or have the potential to be involved with television. The "in-the-room" audience definition provides something that is currently lacking in television audience measurement: a consistent, first-level measure of potential audience.
For the past four years CNN International has researched the viewing habits of business Directors and Senior Managers. This necessitates estimating the numbers of such individuals by country (in 1993 in 17 countries!) using the diverse statistics available. This paper also describes the sampling, questionnaire design and data collection methods used currently - and shows some of the results forthcoming. These demonstrate the continuing variations in the European business environment country by country. These studies were co-funded and developed by CNNI and Laura Wendt of TBS. TBS is now replicating this approach with Continental Research in the Pacific Rim.
The BARB audience measurement system has the reputation of being the most sophisticated in the world. But because of its methodologies and its quantitative nature the advertising industry has, to a greater or lesser extent, been forced into making a number of assumptions: - the peoplemeter button is pressed so the viewer must be paying attention - someone is watching, they must want to do so - impacts have the same value irrespective of where they are placed while we may deny that we make these assumption in practice we all do. If we don't then why do we continue to put average OTS figures at the bottom of media plans. If we suspect that some programmes or some spots have a greater or lesser value, then surely the effective number of impacts would be adjusted to reflect variations. On the other hand, if these assumptions are accepted as broadly true, and that it doesn't matter what is bought, that a rating is a rating, think just for a second about the enormous blind faith which is being paid to BARB. A system which recently was reporting 16% of all viewing being accounted for by uninterrupted viewing sessions of eight hours or more! The point of this paper is not to knock BARB nor has it been written to stimulate a technical debate, but to challenge normally high levels of inquisitiveness when common sense and common practice don't gel.
In light of the drastic changes in the German television market within just a few years, this paper asks how the audience has changed its viewing behaviour in the new television landscape. The main point is to show that the viewers switch more often between channels than they did a few years ago. A comparison will be made to the development of the programme length. An analysis of the amount of changes during the various programme types and a case study will give an idea of how the audience behaves during programmes. From these findings we derive the hypothesis that channel loyalty has become marginal and that programme ratings in a competitive market depend highly on the various programmes offered at any given time.
The Network Television Association's study on Out-of-Home viewing is the most comprehensive effort ever to measure total television viewing, including that done outside the home, for a variety of venues (including ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, basic and pay cable, syndication and independent stations). The study is significant in that substantial numbers of Out-of-Home viewers were documented, who are not measured under the current Nielsen system. Research found that more than 28 million adults in the U.S. watch television away from home. Young and active demographic groups, such as working women, college students, and business travellers, all of whom are traditionally thought to be light viewers of television, do a significant portion of their viewing away from home. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, most of this viewing takes place at colleges, the workplace, and in hotels, not in restaurants and bars. As society becomes more mobile, information on television viewing outside the home becomes increasingly important.
The paper describes and discusses the sample design to measure television viewing among the Hispanic population in the U.S. using a peoplemeter. The sample design is a two phase sample. The first phase sample is a sample of U.S. households in which screening interviews are conducted to find Hispanic households. Methods used to define and identify Hispanic households are described. An operational definition of Hispanic persons is needed to determine the households to be included in the meter panel. The definition used is based on national origin and is consistent with the definition used by the U.S. government which is the source of Hispanic population estimates. Data is provided regarding the distribution and concentration of the Hispanic population. How this information was used to develop a sampling frame for the screening sample is described. The possible benefits and disadvantages of oversampling of areas with high concentrations of Hispanic households to reduce screening costs are discussed. Weighting to compensate for different selection probabilities may increase design effects requiring a larger meter panel to achieve the same precision as a proportionate sample. The paper shows how the extent of oversampling is related to the relationship of screening costs to the cost of collecting tuning and viewing data. There was concern that less acculturated Hispanic households might be less willing to participate in the peoplemeter sample. Language use by Hispanic households was obtained during the screening interview and used as a proxy measure for acculturation. Language use and concentration of Hispanic households in the neighborhood in which Hispanic households resided were used to stratify the sample to control for possible acculturation differences.
The present monograph on "media moments" objectively confirms that media contact depends in part on life-stvle. Preferred media moments with the press, television and radio are arranged differently according to the days of the week and how the various categories use their time. A few simple examples taken from the Tables illustrate well the cause and effect relation of the different targets' preferred media moments and the time they have available: - Employed people naturally prefer watching television after 10 pm during the weekend. - Women of the house with children listen to less radio on Wednesdays and Sundays. - People living in households of three or more have shorter and more sporadic media moments. All three behaviours are related to one and the same need: individual management of time. How much candle can be burned at each end varies from one person to the next, but choices still have to be made. This media decision-making depends, and will do more and more, on how well, or badly, they fit in with people's lives. This is especially TRUE for television, time-guzzler par excellence. The audiovisual media must pay attention to people's timetables and integrate target availability into their programming strategies now: it is not simply necessary, it is vital. When the targets are compared among themselves, the behaviour proves very similar for television, less so for radio and somewhat different for the press.
In any measurement system, there may be some groups that are more difficult to measure, or are perceived as more difficult to measure than others. In August of 1992, Nielsen started a program to address concerns about the accuracy of measurement of children's and teens' television viewing. Eighteen child and teen specialists were hired and trained to work with people meter homes with children and teens from the initial installation of the metering equipment throughout the two year tenure in the panel. These specialists we call people meter representatives. They have backgrounds in teaching, social work, counselling and coaching and therefore have the background and skills to build strong rapport with children and teens.
On January the 1st 1993 all commercial television programming was shifted to the nation's third TV network. Channel Three began to operate as a subsidiary of MTV and the name of the third network was changed to MTV3. The new 1993 channel allocation left YLE with two public service channels. In this new situation, each broadcaster had more air time to be filled and also more freedom in the scheduling of programme. The whole programme repertoire changed as also did viewing behaviour. In 1991 the first segmentation analysis was carried out on the bases of TV meter data, which aimed to divide the entire Finnish TV audience aged over 10 years into audience segments based only on viewing behaviour.
Due to the improvements in the ways of penetration (via cable and satellite) and the ongoing increase in TV stations (full scale programmes and field programmes) it is made sure that most of the viewers in Germany have the opportunity to compile their individual programme range from an abundant variety of programmes. 10 years ago the audience only had the choice of two public TV stations. Decreasing market shares of these public TV stations and the new private televisions' success indicate the audience's acceptance of this new programme variety. It may be assumed that further technological developments will both multiply and diversify this programme range in the future. Simultaneously, the role of television will change from a comprehensive mass media to a target oriented television. Information concerning target groups will heighten in importance. This information should be sociodemographic in nature and should also be subdivided into psychographic and market oriented groups by using other criteria. Without this information, TV stations will be unable to react appropriately to alterations in target groups' habits, attitudes and interests. The range of programmes offered should be a direct consequence of this detailed knowledge.