News & Views

Barb, the industry’s standard for understanding what people watch, today unveiled its new Trustmark. This quality-assurance indicator is for use by Barb’s customers and other companies that are part of Barb’s Trusted Data Delivery Network.

The Trusted Data Delivery Network includes all companies that work with Barb to deliver audience-measurement services that meet the needs of all parts of the industry. These companies participate in a joint-industry governance process that is designed to achieve the industry’s expected levels of operational quality, corporate responsibility and compliance with standards.

Joint-industry governance has guided Barb to continue evolving its audience-measurement services. This extends from agreeing the scope of its measurement and the choice of research partners and data suppliers through to the collection, compilation and production of audience-viewing data.

The Trusted Data Delivery Network also includes companies that provide analytics services to organisations which rely on Barb data for a range of commercial and regulatory purposes. These data-processing companies can use Barb’s Trustmark as a quality-assurance indicator to demonstrate their analytics services are reporting data that is compliant with industry standards.

For analytics providers that use Barb data alongside other sources, Barb has established oversight processes that ensure its data are used alongside other joint-industry standards. A notable example is the MRC Cross-Media Measurement Standard for Video Audiences.

Barb’s trusted audience data delivers insight into important elements of viewing behaviour, for example co-viewing. Starting this week, Barb will also be publishing data showing the average number of people in a household watching TV together for selected audiences. These are known as co-viewing factors.

Barb will publish TV-set co-viewing factors for any linear, video-on-demand (VOD) or streaming service with a viewing share of more than 0.5% of total viewing. The available co-viewing factors will provide more insight to end-users of Barb’s data to inform media planning.

Justin Sampson, Chief Executive at Barb said:

“Every day, Barb delivers a rich body of evidence on what people watch. In a world of data abundance, our Trustmark will assure data analysts of the industry standards that underpin the collection, compilation and reporting of our viewing figures.

Our ability to meet expected standards relies on many companies that are part of our Trusted Data Delivery Network. We’re pleased to have worked with many of these companies for several years and have been stimulated this year by conversations with other companies that have ideas for how we can deliver data in a way that’s both fresh and rigorous.

The growing interest in co-viewing factors across our industry recognises a critical co-dependency. Data sourced from the devices people use to watch is reliant on real-life observations on human behaviour to identify how many people are watching, and who they are watching with.

We’re pleased to now start reporting Barb’s co-viewing factors formally to all our customers. With our Trustmark attached, data users can be assured that Barb’s co-viewing factors are a bona fide industry-agreed standard.”