Italy's Auditel to Launch 'Total Audience' Measurement

In Italy, audience measurement organisation Auditel is set to launch a new 'Total Audience' system from 29th December, measuring viewing across linear TV, PCs, tablets, smartphones and on-demand services.

Auditel is a Joint Industry Committee whose largest shareholders (see image) are broadcasters Rai and Mediaset/RTI - followed by the UPA Association, which represents advertising investors. Auditel has been monitoring digital viewing since 2019 but until now has only released this data to investors. For the last year, a new system has been rigorously tested using device tracking, stream counting, viewing time, demographic profiling and comparison / deduplication with traditional TV data, readying the service for launch.

The change is expected to add around 4% to total TV audience figures, although broadcasters and programmes strongly focused on digital platforms will see much larger increases.

Auditel has also announced that from the middle of next year (starting July 1st) companies wanting cross-media measurement of their ad campaigns will be required to use the CUSV code (Unique Spot Video Code) - which it introduced in the autumn of 2020 but which is currently used by only a small minority.

Web site: www.auditel.it .