Barb, the body which measures UK audiences for broadcasters and streamers, is inviting potential suppliers to tender for the next iteration of its service, named Barb Panel Plus.
For many years, the organisation’s strategy has been underpinned by the belief that audience measurement requires both panel and big data. Barb says this strategy has allowed its current Dovetail Fusion solution to deliver “robust viewing figures” for broadcasters’ on-demand services, such as iPlayer and ITVX, since 2018.
Barb Panel Plus is the next iteration and will integrate multiple data sources into a coherent set of audience-measurement standards.
Dovetail Fusion currently combines panel data with census data from broadcaster players. Barb Panel Plus additionally seeks to embrace return path data, such as connected TV and set-top boxes, as well as first-party server data.
Caroline Baxter, Chief Operating Officer at Barb said: “There are more data sources available than ever before, both from media owners and third parties. Datasets drawn from large samples of millions of devices are now seen as invaluable.
“Adding census or server datasets to the Barb panel gives us a bigger data sample, and therefore more accurate measurement of audience volumes. Conversely, census or server datasets typically don’t include the important detail about demographics, co-viewing and cross-platform duplication which the panel does. Our subscribers increasingly want fusion across all these data sources.
“We are looking for proposals that support Barb in calibrating volumes of viewing using the more accurate figures from census data, while preserving demographic, co-viewing and cross-platform duplication information from the panel.”
Those looking to submit a tender are asked to inform Barb by May 9th 2024. The deadline for proposal submissions is August 30th 2024.