0/5

OzTAM limits ratings data reporting

The Australian today writes about a developing issue in the reporting of OzTAM data in the public domain.

The Australian today writes about a developing issue in the reporting of OzTAM data in the public domain.

As the issue involves this website I will publish excerpts of the story without any editorial input:

OzTAM, the company owned by the three metropolitan commercial television networks Seven, Nine and Ten to measure TV ratings data, has issued a six-page ‘Website Authorisation Application’ to a number of websites demanding they commit to only listing the top 20 shows each night on free-to-air, FTA multichannels and subscription television, as provided by OzTAM.

The decision will halt websites posting the top 50 programs or more as lists, as most do, and will adversely affect the reporting of ratings for the ABC, SBS and even possibly Network Ten, which only had three shows ranked in the top 20 shows on Monday night. Any reporting of audience numbers for shows outside the top 20 can only be contained within the body of text, not listed, if indeed networks provide those figures.

A number of sites, including the Mediaspy messageboard, TV Tonight, and TV Central, have shut down their ratings fora or sections pending the signing of the agreement with OzTAM. Sites such as TV Tonight and Mediaspy have also removed up to five years’ worth of ratings data which OzTAM said must remain offline unless the agreement is signed.

Media understands OzTAM believes the public listing of top 50s and top 100 rankings has cost the company private clients. Yet the commercial networks themselves regularly provide media with such listings. The Seven network changed its daily format to a more restrictive top 20 listing this week.

OzTAM spokesperson Margaret Fearn said “We absolutely do not want people to stop writing about television.”

She added public dissemination of the data is a copyright issue. “It is an expensive data service and it’s not fair for subscribers,” she said.

You can read it in full here

NB: TV Tonight appreciates your patience until this matter is resolved.

39 Responses

  1. I guess the commercial networks don’t want free advice from the public. Too bad some of the ideas might fix their problems. Not everything is a good idea but some of them might be. I guess they haven’t learned from the Roman Triumphs where they had someone whisper in the ear of the person or leader criticisms or reminders of mortality so they don’t become complacent and get big heads. Although that is meant to be disputed if it really happened. But it is a good idea. So it’s really stupid not to take advantage of free feedback. But the best of that can come from knowledge not ignorance of the presumed facts.

    P.S. Good luck David.

  2. Ordinary people like me are not going to start paying oztam to see the ratings, and any people who require this information as part of their job will continue to pay so they can have all the info including demos. Just because they lost a few clients due to them being satisfied with the freely available information that is no reason to prevent that information being available to everyone. Obviously those clients weren’t that serious about the data and they would have left eventually any way. The direct and instant result of their ban was the complete stop to ratings discussion and analysis by members of the public, if that was truly not their goal they seriously need to rethink their strategy.

  3. Da Video (3:57pm),

    Haha! I’ve heard every excuse under the sun now for stealing other people’s content: “This is how piracy starts, isn’t it?” I don’t know, I’d go further & say maybe some BitTorrent user’s star signs might make them steal…

  4. I still remember back in 2001 when OzTam took over, it showed Nine to be slumping and Seven surging, so good ol’ Packer and his boy chucked the wobblies and demanded it be rectified. Of course it was, and Packer got what he wanted. As per usual.

  5. What I want to know is how can OzTAM a television ratings company that provides ratings figures to advertisers be owned by the 3 commercial networks??? It’s very similar to a tobacco company conducting research and providing information on the dangers of smoking.

    It’s definitely a conflict of interest. When there’s so much advertising money at stake of course they will spin the figures to suit themselves.

    OzTam actually took over from AC Nileson around 2001 to provide ratings data which may go a long way to explain why the television landscape has changed so much since then… all there is on television these days is cheap reality and factual shows with hardly a drama or sitcom in sight. It benefits the networks by providing such cheap reality and factual shows whilst undoubtedly swindling the figures to suit themselves in order to con advertisers that those type of shows are more popular than what they really are.

    Bring back AC Nielson or an independent company to measure audience ratings please and stop taking advertisers for fools in what is the biggest rort in television this century.

  6. This is a rather silly move by Oztam, I think Ms Fearn’s assertion that
    “We absolutely do not want people to stop writing about television.” is ridiculous, thats like say taking the AFL off TV, but then saying “oh but we don’t mean stop following it”

    Give us a break, this is one of the most small minded decisions i’ve seen in a very long time.

  7. @DansDans Don’t kid yourself. Those comments will still be around and even moreso than before as people ask how one of the 30 shows whose ratings are no longer displayed under these new rules performed. This is an absolute disgrace, how many readers distribute this information further than this site? I personally just read it, sometimes discuss it in a comment and maybe with some close family or friends.

  8. Clearly they don’t like the fact a lot less people are watching TV than ever before which of course impacts on what the networks can get out of advertisers.

    Much like the bogus ratings box system already!

  9. It’s interesting how the commercial networks believe it is the public disclosure of ratings that is costing them cleints and not – the constant moving of programs, programs not starting or finishing when advertised, not showing sport live or in HD, etc, etc, etc.

    Advertisers are people too and they get annoyed by what they see on TV. Why woudl they want to associate with programs that suffer from the above points. Remember the Renovators at the last minute being switched with Modern Family… or sticking it in between the MasterChef finally. Not to pick on just Ten, Nine and 10 are even bigger offenders at annoying the viewing audience and that is why ratings fall and not because they were publically available.

    Clearly the networks are clueless and they’ll eventually pay a price for that. Let’s face it, with more content now online and more and more alternative media/ entertainment becoming available you’d think the big networks would want to do everything they can to keep customers, yet they seemingly do all they can to lose them…

  10. If it wasn’t for these sites putting up ratings info then knowone would even know who the hell oztam is!! So really oztam has become a name because of people like david and people like us. If anything they should be paying david. lol
    And also isn’t it time we moved into 2011 and got a service that is actually accurate?

Leave a Reply