BARB

The BARB website gives information on what they do, but here is a basic outline:

BARB (Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board) is the organisation responsible for providing the official measurement of UK television audiences used throughout the television industry. It was set up in 1981 and commissions specialist companies to provide the television audience measurement service on its behalf - RSMB, Ipsos MORI, AGB Nielsen Media Research and TNS.

On the website, both weekly and monthly viewing summarys can be found, which show the number of viewers that watched certain programmes/channels, at certain times.

• BARB provides in-home TV viewing measurement for the UK
• This is obtained from a panel of 5,100 homes
• These homes return data from around 11,500 viewers
• Viewing by visitors to the home is included (guest viewing)
• Viewing figures are available to subscribers the morning after transmission
• PVR & VCR playback is incorporated within 7 days of transmission
• Audiences are reported on a minute-by-minute basis
• The panel design is representative of the whole of the UK
• People are recruited from all sectors of the population
• All viewing environments in the home are represented
• Multiple TV sets are measured
• BARB measures both analogue and digital delivery via cable, satellite and terrestrial distribution