Online ratings system moves nearer

The UK's leading broadcasters are to receive monthly reports detailing the number of people viewing their content over the internet by the end of this year.

A working party made up of the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, Sky, Barb and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) has tasked the ABCE – the online arm of the ABC, which audits newspaper and magazine circulations – to provide basic statistical reports using agreed criteria.

The move is the industry's first step toward the holy grail of online audience measurement and comes as ITV launches its simulcast-based service itv.com.

The reports will initially cover just simulcast content rather than downloads, though there is no consensus yet on whether the data will be made public.

ABCE managing director Richard Foam said: "As long as broadcasters capture the data, we can audit simulcast material, with VoD as the next stage. Everything that's being registered is audited somewhere, but it needs to be supported by sample-based research into who the audience is."

ITV last week said it was working with Barb to develop tools because the current assessment is "lagging badly behind" the needs of advertisers and service providers.

Source: Broadcast Now