Prime TV signs audience measuring body BARB
In a first for an Asian TV channel in the UK, Prime TV has signed up with the Broadcasters Audience Research Board (BARB) to officially measure its viewership.
A BARB spokesman confirmed to BizAsia.co.uk that Prime TV’s first set of results will be announced on Monday 15th October.
Since Prime TV became free-to-air on Sky Digital over a year ago, it has made huge on-air changes including several programme additions. At the time of filing this news piece, a Prime TV official was unavailable for comment. However, in an earlier conversation with BizAsia.co.uk, the broadcaster had said it felt subscribing to BARB would reaffirm Prime TV’s stance in the UK market as one of the most watched Asian TV channels. It would also have one over its rivals in the sense it has official statistics to support its sales spiel, which other Asian TV channels may not necessarily have.
Mainstream terrestrial and digital multi-channel services subscribe to BARB, however Asian TV channels have until now stayed away from such mechanics of audience measuring.
A Possible reason why Asian broadcasters have opted not to subscribe to BARB could be because of the hefty subscription costs. BARB subscribers pay an annual registration fee of over �5,000 and a quarterly subscription fee. UK Asian subscription TV broadcasters instead depend on subscriber figures to observe the popularity of its channel(s). Free-to-air channels determine the success of their programmes and the channel on the whole by its income revenue.
UK Asian TV channels also rely on information sourced from India’s measuring body called TAM, which like BARB samples audience to see, which programmes are being most watched across India. For example, shows like ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’ on ZEE TV and ‘Indian Idol’ on Sony Entertainment Television Asia have had viewers in their droves tuning in India. Similarly, in the UK, the programmes will be scheduled in a similar time band (primetime) so the channels can sell these shows to advertisers to their maximum potential. A contrast in viewing habits in the UK and India may however prove inaccurate if UK Asian TV channels wholly dependent on TAM data.
What remains to be seen is if Prime TV�۪s BARB deal has paved the way for other Asian TV channels to follow suit. Keep it with BizAsia.co.uk for more on this.
