OzTAM limits ratings data reporting
The Australian today writes about a developing issue in the reporting of OzTAM data in the public domain.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
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
It’s interesting to understand that the US and UK ratings results are, and have been, reported and analysed in their media in far more detail than OZ TV is. And OzTAM has a problem? Pity ABC and especially SBS all but disappearing from public reporting of their programming successes and challenges. This is how piracy starts. Isn’t it.
“It is an expensive data service and it’s not fair for subscribers.” And it’s a table of numbers, in which copyright does not exist. Raw program guides and the phone book take effort to produce too, but that doesn’t mean copyright exists in them.
Ratings numbers can be restricted in distribution in contract by licensing agreements. That means the person who “leaks” the data does wrong but not an unrelated third party that then publishes it. If OzTam are to go around threatening third parties with action for copyright violation, that would be an egregious abuse of position and power by them.
I can understand OzTAM wanting to restrict external sites from long-term archival of historical ratings data. Perhaps allowing them to keep, say, the last month’s or year’s worth of ratings would be a good compromise.
But a Top 20 Programs, much like Nine’s “Celebrity Apprentice” separate coding, just doesn’t give an accurate representation of the ratings. I’d much prefer a Top 50.
But why is it an expensive dataservice i could create a service that more accurate and cost next to nothing … all i need is a list of the shows for each day and i can have a random number generator decide the percentages to each timeslot.
Time for OzTAM to give up or shut up. This is bull. I recon that Nielson should be our ratings provider after reading that. What a load of garbage. OzTAM losing clients? Seriously?
@msd, I think you are 100% right. It’s totally pathetic!
It’s time for WikileaksTV.com
I can see where they’re coming from but that doesn’t please the average folk like myseld and most who read here.
It is far too expensive to pay for Oztam ratings info so we can see what rated what.
The Australian television industry is in complete and utter shambles. There is an absolute lack of quality local productions, our schedules are filled with endless repeats and doubling and tripling up of series to fill gaps and now the ratings system, something that should be transparent and easily accessible, has become a mouth piece for the networks rather than an independent body. Something really needs to be done soon or else it may be too late!
Matt – I know some places are paying upwards of $30,000…
Very disappointing that it has come to this, to say the least.
Hopefully it works out, David!
While they say that they “absolutely do not want people to stop writing about television” people have already stopped writing about and discussing ratings since last week. Without the more detailed information out there about ratings across all networks and rankings, more people will lose interest in discussing ratings and the skills of programming. Television will be the loser and OzTam will become irrelevant.
How much do they charge to get ratings from them?
This is what happens when the lunatics are running the asylum. What are they afraid of? Lively debate on what rates, what doesn’t and why? Surely that can only be good for the industry.
Hang in there, David, and let’s hope good sense prevails.
It would be a massive shame if all those years of ratings data from Media Spy did not return.
This is disgusting, OzTam need to get a grip.
Thanks for the article, David. It was frustrating not hearing anything from you earlier on but presumably you felt that commenting might have prejudiced your negotiations (even to just advise that OzTAM’s position had changed and that you were working to resolve the situation).
Anyway, I hope OzTAM come to their senses as, despite what Ms Fearn says, their new position has certainly had a stifling effect on ratings discussion here and on other sites. I really doubt that they would have lost many genuine clients from the publication of the Top 50/100 shows from preliminary overnight data which, with program over-runs and no time-shift data, is not an accurate reflection of reality. Any advertiser worth their salt is going to want to see the demos, including socio-economic strata and probably 15-minute breakdowns so that they can better target their advertising.
It’s time for OzTAM to be big enough to admit that they acted a little hastily and stop being a dog in the manger about this.
Copyright my a*se. This is about a company hiding information that reflects badly on their owners.
Hard when your site revolves around the televison, but stuff them, Don’t do them any favours David. I think they must have the same management team as here at my workplace..
Why, does not make sense
Bring back the Nielson ratings.
Theres something not quite right that the networks run the agency that measures them….only in Australia.
OzTam can suck it.
This is annoying
I would start listing rating show by social media interaction in response
And David, you have published parts of an article that are behind a pay wall. You may have problems with News Corp too soon!
It looks like transparency, honesty and debate are the losers, while spin, bs, rubbish, lies and drivel from the 3 main channels are the winners.
Jeez sounds as if the petulant programmers and tv execs have had a major dummy spit……the truth really hurts them….