BARB SVoD upgrade puts Squid Game in top 10
November 30, 2021
BARB, the UK television audience measurement currency, has rolled out what it describes as a “once-in-a-generation upgrade” in its audience reporting with the introduction of SVoD and video-sharing platform measurement, as first reported last week.
In a preview of the type of new data that is now available, BARB has revealed that the most-watched programmes across all broadcast channels and streaming services in October 2021. This shows that Netflix’s Squid Game ranked in tenth place with 5.774 million viewers, after BBC 1’s Strictly Come Dancing (10.435 million viewers), Channel 4’s The Great British Bake Off (8.889 million) and ITV’s The Larkins (6.580 million) were in the top three spots respectively. The remaining titles in the top 1o were all on linear channels.
A further three Netflix shows (Maid, You, The Guilty) and one Disney+ title (Black Widow) placed in the top 100 most-watched titles in October. Amazon Prime Video’s highest-ranked entry didn’t make it into the top 100 for this calendar month.
“Understanding people is at the heart of BARB’s remit and it’s been clear for some time that streaming services have started to attract viewers who have traditionally relied solely on linear channels for their viewing entertainment,” commented Justin Sampson, BARB’s Chief Executive. “It’s great news for the television and advertising industry that we’re upgrading our always-on measurement service to include SVoD and video-sharing platforms. For the first time there is audience measurement for these services that bears all the hallmarks of a joint-industry currency: independence, objectivity and transparency.”
In October 2021, total identified viewing by everyone aged 4+ was 231 minutes per day, of which 156 minutes (or 68 per cent) was total broadcaster viewing; 35 minutes was total SVoD/AVoD viewing, and 40 minutes was total video-sharing viewing.
SVoD and video-sharing viewing data are now part of BARB’s daily reporting. Viewing data for BARB-subscribing SVoD and video-sharing platforms are available to BARB clients through viewing analysis software and data-processing bureaux. Viewing data for non-BARB-subscribing SVoD and video-sharing platforms are accessible through data-processing bureaux for BARB clients that hold a section 9 licence.
From January 2022, BARB’s website will feature a regular monthly breakdown of total identified viewing, with additional archive reports and trend data available exclusively for BARB clients through BARB’s subscriber portal, What People Watch.