Foxtel to Withdraw from Aus Ratings as VOZ Launches

Australian Pay TV Provider Foxtel is to withdraw from the country's ad currency system, provided by OzTAM, at the end of this year. The broadcaster launched its own ratings service a year ago, using data collected from the set top boxes of its more than one million subscribers.

Kantar Media announced last October that it had been commissioned by Foxtel to deliver an audience measurement service ingesting data collected from set top box subscribers using return path data technology. The Foxtel service makes use of analytics from VideoAmp, as well as Kantar TechEdge's AdvantEdge software which incorporates data validation, processing and capping, adjusting long viewing sessions into realistic viewing levels. At the time OzTAM said the launch 'posed the risk of confusion in the market' and that 'the industry has clearly stated that it wants one service to measure Total TV': however it also said that it valued its decades-long relationship with Foxtel as a participating broadcaster - and welcomed Foxtel's confirmation that it would not be ending its involvement in the OzTam panel.

That involvement is now coming to an end - just as OzTAM's groundbreaking cross-media counting solution VOZ is due to become the country's official video ad currency from the end of the year. OzTAM in a statement expressed its disappointment at Foxtel's decision: 'Despite OzTAM's best efforts' states CEO Karen Halligan, 'including presenting Foxtel with several options, it is unfortunate that Foxtel has decided to leave the primary measurement system in favour of exploring an alternative approach. We believe the industry as a whole is taking a step backward by not working together as a total video industry'.

Halligan, quoted on media site www.mumbrella.com.au , reiterated that 'OzTAM has made significant investments in VOZ and other leading technology to measure Total Television, including streaming'.

In June Doug Peiffer, who had previously led the development of VOZ in his time as OzTAM CEO, joined Foxtel Media as an adviser.

Web sites: www.oztam.com.au , www.virtualoz.com.au and www.foxtel.com.au .