News & Views

Barb has issued an invitation to tender for a contract to run its content ID system from January 2025.

In January 2020, Barb introduced a new combined content ID system (CCIDS), operated by MetaBroadcast. The system maintains the consistency of programme titles and genre reporting in Barb’s television audience measurement by standardising programme titles, placing content in a hierarchy to link individual episodes to a programme and independently assigning programmes with a standard Barb genre. It also links broadcasters’ linear and BVOD content across platforms, and feeds into the Dovetail Fusion process, to help generate more accurate demographic profiles for viewing on non-TV devices.

The contract for this content ID system finishes in January 2025, so Barb is now inviting tenders for a contract to run this system from then until December 2029.

Caroline Baxter, Barb’s Research Operations Director, said:

“Our content ID system is a fundamental part of our television audience measurement service, enabling us to effectively report what people watch, regardless of the channel or service viewed on.

“As the Barb service has evolved, so too has the content ID system. It now also enables consistent programme titling and genre reporting on SVOD services and for content available on a number of different platforms. We are now looking for a contractor to manage and develop the system so it is fit-for-purpose for the latter half of the decade.”

The Barb service has developed in recent years. It now reports viewing of broadcaster video-on-demand (BVOD) services on multiple screens; non-linear programmes on TV sets; advertising/subscription video-on-demand (AVOD/SVOD) services and video-sharing platforms; and dynamically-served advertising.

The current invitation to tender is available to potential suppliers, with a deadline for submissions of January 20th, 2023. The start date for delivery of the new contract is January 24th, 2025. For further information, please contact Caroline Baxter.