Pay TV looks beyond OzTAM for data

Foxtel and Austar are combining with Multi Channel Network (MCn) to collect viewing data from personal digital recorders.

An as yet unnamed system will measure habits including time-shifted viewing, and responses to interactive advertising (i-Ads) which launch mid-year.

Being pitched as a “complementary” service alongside current OzTAM and RegTAM ratings data, it promises to offer more extensive data of how viewers watch their subscription TV.

The new system will raise the statistic pool from some 1250 homes currently sourced to 10,000 after it launches in 2009.

“As proven already in the USA and UK the capability to record and measure every single press of any button on the remote control in Foxtel and Austar households will be extraordinarily powerful.” said Foxtel’s Kim Williams.

Press Release:

Australia’s leading subscription television (STV) providers, FOXTEL and AUSTAR, in conjunction with Multi Channel Network (MCn), today announced a new digital television audience measurement system (AMS) which will radically change the way TV viewing is studied and reported.

10,000 Australian subscription television homes will participate in the most in-depth audience survey system ever created in Australia to comprehensively reveal the behaviour of viewers into the future.

The subscription television survey base will be eight times larger than the current STV national audience measurement panel. The new subscription television system will measure personal digital recorder viewing including time-shifted viewing, and it will also measure responses to interactive advertising (i-Ads). The research will provide subscription TV platforms, channels and their advertising clients with data which complements the existing currency measurements from OzTAM and RegTAM – however it won’t replace such systems.

Details of the new measurement system, plus a new phase in the automation of interactive advertisements (i-Ads), were unveiled by FOXTEL, AUSTAR and MCn at the annual ASTRA Conference, ‘Claiming the Future’ in Sydney today, with an expected launch date of July 2009 for the new AMS and mid 2008 for the i-Ads. The AMS will be officially named in the lead up to the launch.

FOXTEL’s CEO and Managing Director Kim Williams AM said subscription television is taking a leadership role in delivering more accountable audience measurement for advertisers.

Mr Williams said: “The new AMS is an innovative and cutting edge audience measurement tool which will enable better understanding of audiences and will provide a win for consumers and advertisers. It will allow us to receive data from set top boxes in STV homes and more accurately understand the viewing habits and behaviours of television viewers in those homes.

“As proven already in the USA and UK the capability to record and measure every single press of any button on the remote control in FOXTEL and AUSTAR households will be extraordinarily powerful. It will provide an unprecedented level of accountability and audience insight for program makers and advertisers. In fact, the AMS will have accurate actual data drawn from a panel significantly larger than the current OzTam STV panel which surveys about 1250 households nationally. The AMS panel of 10,000 television households signals FOXTEL and AUSTAR’s leadership and commitment to listen to our audiences about what they watch and when and how they watch it. It will be invaluable in tracking time shift viewing with devices such as the FOXTEL iQ and AUSTAR’s MyStar,” Mr Williams said.

Mr John Porter, AUSTAR’s CEO said, “It’s is an exciting development in the delivery of STV in Australia. The AMS will enable measurement of programs watched by consumers, the measurement of interactive program sponsorships, the measurement of on demand functionalities and the measurement of interactive advertising. This will provide STV with an enviable first-hand view of television viewing patterns, not available to other television providers, in Australian homes. Measurement and accountability are central in the future of TV as an advertising a medium.

Anthony Fitzgerald, MCn’s CEO agreed and said the next generation of i-Ads will provide the “perfect marriage” with the AMS and will ensure “the most sophisticated television advertising offering in the Australian market to the benefit of not only STV but also the free-to-air networks carried on STV platforms, some of which have already signalled interest in i-Ads.

“The AMS is about developing a better understanding of STV audiences and will provide a much deeper and richer understanding of viewer behaviour. It will be the perfect complement to the OzTam ratings currency used broadly by the industry.

“The second phase of interactive advertising offered to market through a simple template based application model combined with complete delivery automation will see an explosion in the number of i-Ads and interactive campaigns on Australian TV screens. I-Ads will be cost effective, they will be significantly quicker to get to air and will start a two way communication between the advertiser and the viewer.

Every television advertiser in Australia can now access the benefits of interactivity. i-Ads are part of the evolution of TV advertising in an increasing environment of media convergence.

“Combine these new interactive formats with data from the new panel and Australia will have advanced TV advertising through the STV platforms that will rival anywhere else in the world. We will be able to better measure audience response to advertisements, get a real sense of engagement and see clearly whether viewers are watching there favourite programs live or recording them and when they are interacting with our clients advertisements,” Mr Fitzgerald said.

Further details of both the audience measurement system, and next generation i-Ads will be rolled out in advance of both launches.