Frequently asked questions
What is BARB?
Broadcasters' Audience Research Board - founded by the major players in the industry it supports, BARB is a not-for-profit limited company. It is one of the UK’s Joint Industry Currencies.
What is the difference between BARB and Sky Viewing data?
BARB data is collected from a panel of approximately 5,500 homes containing approximately 12,000 individuals. The BARB panel is representative of the whole country both in terms of socio and geographic factors and TV platforms. BARB reports viewing by individual on any platform i.e. Sky, Virgin, Freeview etc.
Sky Viewing Data is collected from approximately 500,000 Sky set top boxes. The panel is representative of the Sky client base in terms of socio and geographic factors. Sky reports viewing by household on Sky TV platform only.
Is viewing data from BARB different to that from Sky?
Yes - the two sets of data are completely independent and based on fundamentally different parameters. Generally speaking the overall shares of viewing are similar but at a granular level the numbers are quite different. Sky viewing data, being based on a much larger sample size, tends to pick up lower levels of viewing where BARB does not.
When referring to demographics using Sky Viewing Data what exactly does that mean?
As Sky data is at a household level it will not inform which individual(s) were actually watching the television at that time so when using demographics it is referring to the demographic make up of the members of the household of that set top box.
How is the cost per thousand price determined? And who decides it?
The cost per thousand is part of the negotiation between the buyer and seller. It could vary depending on channel, demographic, day-part or other deal parameters. If two parties agree to trade on this basis then probably the starting point in any negotiation would be the effective cost per thousand that previous spots had been traded at. To calculate this you would look at your past orders and divide the budget by the number of impacts delivered. This would be your delivered cost per thousand.
As a seller, do I have to subscribe to DTS in order to be able to trade using Sky Viewing Data as a currency?
Yes - in DTS you will specify which buyers you want to deal with and on what terms. Terms could include the period, channels, demographic and cost per thousand you are prepared to sell at.
You will maintain your ratecard templates in Mediapro from where they will be published to the buyer. A buyer will not be able to include your channel in their order if there is not a valid ratecard template available which covers the channel, demographic, advertiser and period combination that you have agreed.
In DTS you will be able to view Sky Viewing Data and optimise your spot booking so as to deliver the best schedule for the buyer to achieve the buyers viewership target in the most efficient way for the seller.
What is the difference between a cost per spot and cost per thousand deal?
With a cost per spot deal the price of each spot is fixed and therefore the number of spots is fixed. The number of spots will be calculated as the budget divided by the cost per spot.
When trading based on cost per thousand the number of impacts will be fixed. This is calculated as the budget divided by the cost per thousand. By way of example, £1,000 budget @ £10 per thousand buys 100,000 impacts.
Spots will be planned based on predicted ratings. As actual ratings become known, the number of spots in the campaign may vary to either top-up impacts if the ratings are below expectations or spots removed if ratings exceed expectations.
With a cost per thousand deal, the seller has made a commitment to the number of times your spot will be viewed and is therefore fully reconcilable to the ratings achieved. A cost per spot deal simply commits the seller to broadcasting your spot a number of times with no guarantee or reconciliation to number of times the spot was viewed.
As a buyer, I want to be able to have a say in where on the channel my spots will be placed, is that possible?
Yes - although you will not specify the number of spots you can specify where you would like your impacts to be delivered. In the order set up wizard you will plan your campaign based upon percentage of impacts by channel, week, day, spot group and day-part thereby controlling where the spots need to be booked. The channel or saleshouse will book spots to achieve these targets but based on ratings not number of spots.
What is an impact?
Impact refers to the number of households in your chosen demographic.
What is a TVR?
Television Rating Point - for each demographic there is an Universe. This is the total number of households that fall into that demographic category. The TVR is the impacts expressed as a percentage of the Universe.
For example, the Universe for All Sky Households is 10 million. Therefore, 1 million impacts would be 10 TVR's.
What is the cost?
DTP
| Licence per user per month | Free | £650 | £950 | £1,750 |
| Or free if monthly spend through DTP exceeds | £5,000 | £10,000 | £15,000 | |
| Data and features | Free | Bronze | Silver | Gold |
| Trading using Sky viewing data as a currency | * | * | * | * |
| Daily overnight viewing figures | * | * | * | * |
| Day-part average viewing figures | * | * | * | * |
| Monthly reach | * | * | * | * |
| Commercial impacts | * | * | * | |
| Program ratings | * | * | * | |
| Campaign ratings | * | * | ||
| Competitor brands carried | * |
DTS
| Products | |
| Mediapro, Traffic and MpReports | Either £350 per user per month plus 1% of net advertising billings or £1,500 per channel per month for up to 5 users |
| Dimensions | £350 per user per month |
| BARB viewing data | £225 per channel per annum - client must be a BARB subscriber. For subscriber fees please refer to BARB |
| Sky viewing data | £625 per channel per month plus 5% of net advertising billings where Sky viewing data is the trading currency |