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The future of multimillion dollar TV ratings contracts could be in doubt following revelations that a new group Ice TV is set to launch a real time live measurement system based on the use of EPG handsets linked to set top boxes and media centres. The service will be “absolutely free”.
The service that is set to go live this week in Australia will initially measure the actions of between 1500 and 2,000 people who use the Ice TV electronic program guide software on set top boxes and media centres. The information will be streamed live to a brand new web site called I Watch This.
Ice TV also plan to capture demographic data as the service is expanded. Currently the OzTam service tracks the viewing habits of 3,000 TV viewers. This service is supplied to TV stations, advertisers and advertising agencies. Ice TV who is currently before the Federal Court following a decision by Channel Nine to try and stop Ice TV delivering an EPG service in Australia that streams information on Channel Nine programs to viewers.
Matt Kossatz the General Manager of Ice TV said “The new service will go to beta this week. We will not only be able to capture live TV viewers and stream the data out real time we will over time be able to expand on the demographic data we are already capturing. This information will be made available to consumers and advertising agencies free via a new web site I Watch This”
He added “The new service when combined with IceTV’s ‘s other services including IceTV Interactive, the IceTV Guide and Remote Record which allows consumers to record a program from remote devices such as a mobile phone puts us in a leading position to capture data”.
He said “A very large component to iWatchThis.com.au will be our new IceTV’s MyGuide service which will allow users to compile a completely personalised EPG for themselves and have any registered ‘topics of interest’, TV series, Movie with certain Actors etc automatically scheduled to record on their media centre PC or Mac running Elgato’s EyeTV software”.
“Imagine an EPG that knows what TV shows you like, which actors you love, your favourite football team, and what your ‘genre’ you typically crave when you get home from work and then goes away and schedules them all to record so that you always have something sitting on your hard drive to cater for your every need”
All of the added features (such as IceTV’s MyGuide) IceTV plan to release in the coming months are included in the cost of subscribing to IceTV’s ($99 per annum – less than $2 per week).
Currently OzTam and ACNielsen measure 3,000 a day and where IceTV will initally only deliver viewing data OzTam and ACNielsen deliver extensive viewing demographics a service that IceTV say that they are in an excellent position to provide.
OzTam has been the official supplier of the free to air TV ratings in Australia since 2001. OzTam is owned by the metropolitan commercial networks Seven, Nine and Ten. Summary weekly reports are available free on the OzTam website. Complete ratings data is available to subscribers only. OzTam supplies the ratings for subscription TV from August 2003.
From 1957 to 1991, Australian television ratings were collated by McNair Anderson, (later AGB McNair). From 1991 to 2000, ACNielsen collated the figures.
Recently the OzTAM board of directors announced the reappointment of AGB Nielsen Media Research as the supplier of television audience measurement (TAM) services for the Australian metropolitan markets.
Kate Inglis-Clark, CEO, OzTAM, said of the new service”I am not aware of it. I have read some information about IceTV but I know nothing about them I cannot comment”.
Rolando Stalli, CEO AGB Nielsen Media Research, said “I’m sure the purpose of their ratings survey will be quite different to the purpose of ours. The impact should only be complementary rather than competitive.
“What they’re doing is in real time they’re identifying what the TV set in a home is tuned to. They are not attaching any demographic data of the viewers in front of the TV set at that particular time.
“If IceTV wants to be in the business of credited market research, they can go ahead and do that. But it’s not quite as simple as saying to a subscriber – how many children do you have – it’s a lot more complex. Because at the end of the day one has to ask the question, does their subscriber base actually reflect all the population that we have to represent. And I would suggest that if one and a half to two thousand people who have not been drawn from a properly drawn sample, you are not going to have that.
“There’s many examples of what IceTV is hoping to do, around the world, I am not aware of a single instance where that service has done anything but complement a ratings service, as opposed to taking over the ratings service.”
