BSkyB plans UK audience panel

BSkyB is setting up a research panel of television viewers that is four times as large the BARB panel. But the company claims that its panel will not act as a substitute for the industry-wide trading mechanism.

BSkyB’s panel will only measure the viewing habits of digital satellite households, whereas BARB’s panel of more than 5,000 households, which measures individuals’ viewing habits, has been set up to reflect the national take-up of terrestrial, digital terrestrial, cable and digital satellite homes.

A BSkyB spokesman says: “This cannot be regarded as a substitute for BARB because BSkyB’s panel will provide data at a household – not an individual – level.”

The BSkyB panel will be the largest TV audience panel in the UK and will be used to monitor the effect on viewing habits of subscription upgrades, Sky+ boxes and second set-top box subscriptions, as well as the take-up of interactive services.

The move follows upgrades to the digital satellite platform’s functionality, allowing all broadcasters, rather than just BSkyB, to set up research panels among digital satellite households in the UK and Ireland.

Data from BSkyB’s panel will be made available from early 2005. BSkyB will use the data for its own customer marketing purposes and will offer it to other broadcasters on commercial terms. BSkyB claims that the panel, because of its size, will be sensitive enough to measure audiences for small digital channels that sometimes do not register on BARB. It has not yet been decided what data will be gathered in relation to advertising and how it will be made available to advertisers and their agencies.