BARB to Consult on Video Coverage Definition

BARB, the UK's television audience measurement service, has announced an industry consultation on the extension of its reporting to include all television and 'television-like' content on video-sharing platforms; and appointed former Vodafone exec Paul Evans as an independent adviser to lead it.

BARB was founded in 1981 by the major players in the UK television and advertising industry, and is responsible for delivering the country's television audience ratings. Since 2018 its audience data - collected from a representative panel of UK homes - is integrated each day with a census-level count of viewing to BVOD services, using a technique known as Dovetail Fusion. In November last year it added reporting of program audiences for SVOD services such as Disney+ and Netflix, and service-level viewing of video-sharing platforms like TikTok and YouTube.

The new initiative envisages the expansion of this reporting to cover all 'television-like content' on video-sharing platforms: and the consultation will seek cross-industry views - from media agencies, advertisers, broadcasters and video-sharing platforms - to establish what should be included in this definition. BARB has set a starting line for the work by identifying three requirements which align with the principles in the EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive and public statements made by advertisers:

• Videos and channels should be under the editorial control of a professional media services provider.
• They should operate to industry-agreed standards for brand safety.
• They can be classified by genre to help advertisers and agencies know the editorial environment in which their ads appear.

Evans is a former advertiser and worked most recently as Global Head of Media for Vodafone, and earlier in leadership roles at AB-InBev, Kimberly-Clark and Xbox. At Vodafone he oversaw $1bn in media investment, created the firm's operating principles as a strategy for growth, and defined and consolidated media technology partnerships. He also worked agency-side at Mindshare in China, and for Havas Media in Dubai, where he led the global relationship with Emirates Airlines. Currently an independent consultant CMO and advisor to a number of early-stage start-ups, he will present findings to BARB's Strategy Board in the autumn.

BARB CEO Justin Sampson says, 'Innovation carried BARB to a significant milestone last year. Since November 2021, we've been delivering daily audience data for SVOD and video-sharing services. This enhances what was already the most comprehensive and granular measurement service for all forms of television on all devices. Now we are ready to specify the next evolution in our industry's gold-standard measurement of what people watch'.