Project measuring TV audiences to be launched |
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Project Illumination, a people metering system designed to measure TV audiences, is expected to be launched next year in Saudi Arabia as a pilot form.
The project is being funded by Advertising Business Group (ABG), five TV stations including MBC and advertising agencies. It has been in development since 2006. "The pilot project will hopefully release results by the second quarter of next year," said Louis Hakim, Chairman of ABG, Vice-President of Royal Philips Electronics and CEO of Philips Electronics Middle East.
"It is just about getting all the details sorted out... we need to get everybody to sign the paper. We have already finished discussions on the need for measurement and the way to fund it."
The project will be implemented jointly by AGB Nielsen and Stat Ipsos and will be known as AGB Ipsos. It is expected to cost $4 million (Dh14.7m), with $1m coming from ABG.
The introduction of people metering would transform the TV industry, Hakim told a panel discussion during a workshop organised by AGB Nielsen and Dubai Media CityDubai Media City
. The region was the only part of the world that lacked the measuring methodology, he said."There will be many fewer TV stations. Some will shut down and others might become niche broadcasters. Media measurement will enhance programme quality," he said.
Industry figures are divided on the issue of people metering. Many remain sceptical about Project Illumination starting on schedule as it has already been delayed many times. And advertisers, TV stations and media agencies have different views about the methods that should be applied.
"It is a slow process," said Hakim. "This is a young TV market - private commercial TV here is less than 20 years old. We should be allowed to take our time as we are trying to change the long-ingrained practices and habits of the industry."
The session turned into a debate between Hakim and Sharif Badreddine, Commercial Director of MBC.MBC.
The station, one of the major participants in the Project Illuminated consortium, is contributing more funds than other TV networks, said Badreddine. "People meters have their flaws", he said. "And it is not people meters that drive advertising."He referred to the Lebanese system, which was launched in 1999 but is dogged by doubts about its reliability, and said: "The rest of the world has gone through different evolutions starting with television diaries and computer-assisted telephone interviewing and eventually people meters. Our market hasn't reached maturity yet.
"It is the economy that is driving ad spend. But we would love to know how the audience consumes TV and consequently learn how to offer them a better viewing experience."
MBC has repeatedly complained that regional advertising rates are undervalued compared with the global advertising market.
With 85 million viewers believed to have watched the last episode of the Turkish hit series Nour and more than 70 per cent viewership rates during the month of Ramadan, MBC believes advertisers are paying to be viewed in the Saudi market but are receiving much wider exposure across the Arab World. The company currently relies on the surveys conducted by the Pan Arab Research Centre and Stat Ipsos. Both have rated MBC the number one TV station in the region but the remainder of the surveys' results differ and media experts doubt their accuracy.
Hakim said: "I think people meters will address the value for money trend in the region. It will shape the market, assigning the right weight and size to different TV stations. Ultimately it will affect ad spend.
"We have been sailing in the dark for the last 30 years and we need major guidance. All stakeholders will benefit from measurement."
The panel included Ziad Skaff, Group Director of Integral, the research consultancy arm of media agency OMD. He dismissed research results that suggested TV viewership in the region was not declining.
"TV is very important," he said. "This makes the need for a 360-degree holistic media measurement platform even more relevant."
People meters in the UAE
Plans to introduce people metering in the UAE are being discussed by Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA)Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA)
and the National Media Council."The winners of the bidding for mobile TV licences will be announced in December, which will lead to more fragmentation of the market," said TRATRA
Director-General and board member Mohamed Nassir Al Ghanim. "This will escalate the need for measurement." He expected the launch of mobile TV to trigger competition to obtain advertising, with the new service providing a faster, cheaper and more attractive medium for viewers. "Only 12 to 15 channels will be approved," he added. "It will drive the media market forward."
The number
$4m: Cost of the project, which will be implemented jointly by AGB Nielsen and Stat Ipsos. Of the total cost, ABG will contribute $1m. The project is called AGBIpsos. The pilot form of the project is expected to be launched in Saudi Arabia next year.
By Dima Hamadeh
© Emirates Business 24/7 2008
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