Non-members may be able to buy Kantar TV-ratings data
THE MEDIA Research Development Association might allow UK-based Kantar Media to provide its multi-screen audience data commercially to clients that are not members of the MRDA, according to an industry source.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the source said this solution could ease tension among members of the MRDA that were worried about the cost of establishing a new TV and multi-screen ratings-measurement system managed by Kantar Media under a five-year contract awarded by the association.
The source also said this solution might ensure that the costs to be paid by each member on a quarterly basis would be unchanged despite some changes in membership numbers.
To set up this new rating system, the MRDA needs Bt1.5 billion from its members, mainly raised by broadcasters of commercial digital terrestrial TV, followed by cable/satellite TV operators and media agencies.
The hope of getting a Bt380-million subsidy from the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Research and Development Fund for the Public Interest appears to be fading away after the MRDA’s first attempt failed to meet key requirements last year.
In the meantime, some leading digital TV broadcasters have said they are hesitant about switching from Nielsen to the audience-measuring system, especially after Nielsen Thailand announced it was expanding its sample size to cover multi-screen content.
The next generation of television audience measurement run by Nielsen can measure viewership across platforms such as television, computers, smartphones and tablets, it says.
Nielsen’s new service appears to be a challenge to the multi-screen audience measurement being set up by Kantar Media.
In a previous interview, it was revealed that Kantar Media planned to set up an office in Bangkok and have 100 employees to support its TV rating service.
To build and operate the new multi-platform TV rating service, the company will take a year to deploy survey panels before delivering data to the media industry. Through collaboration with its sister company TNS Thailand, Kantar Media says it is establishing a specialist audience-measurement team in Bangkok.
Under the five-year contract that was awarded by the MRDA, the system will comprise a representative panel of 3,000 homes to measure multi-platform TV viewing. When launched next year, it will measure viewers’ behaviour not only on TV sets but also on tablets, smartphones and personal computers, delivering a complete picture of actual TV consumption in Thailand.
Kantar Media conducts TV measurement services in more than 55 markets worldwide.
