Advanced Television

Freesat launches FTA live audience measurement service

August 11, 2016

UK subscription-free satellite TV service Freesat has launched a live audience measurement service showing viewing behaviour in real time. The service, which runs on an audience attribution platform developed by TVbeat, shows viewer behaviour across channels and programmes to a high level of granularity, giving channel executives and other users new datasets on which to derive insights from audiences.

The anonymised data is captured from over 100,000 connected Freesat set-top boxes – whose users have opted in to share the data – and then processed instantaneously by TVbeat’s powerful platform. The resulting data sets are displayed on a simple online dashboard, which can be easily queried by the user to return detailed insights within moments.

As well as real-time linear TV viewing data, the service returns behavioural information related to time-shifted and on-demand viewing, and can be segmented by users’ location, viewing duration and resolution. The system provides accurate viewing figures for TV, on demand throughout the day. For the first time broadcasters will have the opportunity to act on the data in real-time – such as by optimising programming within and around a show while it is still airing.

For channel executives and other decision-makers, Freesat’s new audience measurement service provides:

  • Audience Flow – Insight into programming crossover showing, for instance, viewers who move across channels and on demand services to watch particular programmes
  • Audience Retention – The ability to identify if an audience returns week-on-week for a new TV show
  • Limitless Time-Shifted Data – Broadcasters can observe data on time-shifted viewing, based on PVR usage within a user-defined timeframe, rather than relying solely on the traditional 7-day window
  • VoD Impact – Granular visibility of services such as iPlayer, ITV Hub, All 4, Netflix, YouTube and other on demand services on live TV share of viewing

“We’re delighted to have worked with TVbeat to develop and test a really innovative service, which breaks new ground for audience measurement in the UK,” commented Alistair Thom, Managing Director of Freesat. The insights provided by a combination of real-time data, scale and granularity will, we believe, have a significant and positive effect on the broadcast industry. More importantly, it will benefit viewers, as it enables broadcasters to respond quickly and precisely to their preferences. Ultimately this real-time, granular measurement system will help to maintain a robust free-to-air TV market in the UK. We look forward to working with TVbeat, broadcasters and others to harness the extraordinary potential of the data.”

“We believe the future of TV is about generating the most relevant cross-screen experience and leveraging real-time audience data,” added Robert Farazin, Founder of TVbeat. “With Freesat’s deep, raw datasets, and TVbeat’s fast and efficient platform we are able to process and contextualise data and provide insights which will be of immense value to broadcasters and programme makers both now and in the future.”

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