What does BARB stand for?

 

 

BARB is an acronym for Broadcasters' Audience Research Board.

What is BARB?

 

 

BARB was set up in 1981 to provide the industry standard television audience measurement service for broadcasters and the advertising industry. BARB is owned by BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, BSkyB and the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) and is a not for profit company limited by guarantee.

 

BARB commissions research companies to provide the services that our users want, including the production of audience viewing figures. The audience measurement contracts are held by the following companies - RSMB, Ipsos MORI and Kantar Media (formerly known as TNS).

 

Have you ever wondered how BARB measures television viewing for the whole of the UK?

 

In order to estimate viewing patterns across all TV households, a carefully selected panel of private homes is recruited. The Establishment Survey is carried out continuously by Ipsos MORI in order to track changes in UK household characteristics. From this we can ascertain the types of households we need on our panel to make sure it is representative of the whole of the UK. For example they recruit households to be on the panel that suit the necessary demographics, TV platforms and geography, as well as other variables. The BARB panel consists of 5100 households, which each represent about 5000 other households across the UK. Advertisers can also find out about their audiences by having online questionnaires.