Guidelines for Non BARB Subscribing Print/On-Line Publishers
All data and information derived from it are copyright to BARB.
This guidance is not intended to be comprehensive and if at any time you are unsure of the extent to which information may be disseminated we will welcome a dialogue with you.
Acceptable Reproduction of BARB Data and Information Derived from it
Very top line information contained within editorial content is acceptable, for example, reference to Channel X or Channel Y, a small number of overnight ratings, number of viewers, share of viewing. This should not extend to an amount which, for example, represents a channel’s full peak-time schedule for an evening, or a single timeslot performance for more than three or four channels. In an article about a particular channel, passing reference to the channel’s share of viewing and how it has performed over time and in comparison to its competitors is acceptable, together with reference to its audience profile and passing reference to its highest rated programmes.
It is unacceptable to print data / information from the BARB website without the appropriate BARB publishing licence. It is clear in our website Terms and Conditions that it is necessary to become a BARB subscriber in order to reproduce content, other than as described above. Nor is it acceptable to print charts, graphs or tables of data, programme rankings, comprehensive overnight data without a BARB publishing licence.
There is a wealth of BARB data available to BARB subscribers to purchase from BARB registered bureaux. A modestly priced publishing licence (covering all titles within a publishing house) enables publishers to enjoy the benefits of full access to all BARB data and to be able to reproduce information from the public access pages of the BARB website and publish lists of top programmes, overnights, share of viewing etc. Please refer to the Category 5 tariff in the BARB Rate Card for details and the How to Subscribe section.
Sourcing Data / Information Copyright to BARB
All references to BARB TV Audience Measurement data and / or information derived from it should be credited to BARB (please note: acronym in upper case). If the data / information is sourced from a third party it is acceptable to source it BARB / Broadcaster Name or BARB / Analyst Company Name, for example.
It is inaccurate to describe overnight ratings as "unofficial". Overnight minute-by-minute television viewing data are released to the industry at 9.30 each morning. This data includes any recorded material played back on the same day as the original transmission, referred to as "viewing-on-same-day-as-live" (VOSDAL). This will be the preliminary rating for a programme, commercial break, spot etc because any recorded playback within 7 days has not yet been viewed and this, together with guest viewing, has yet to be added in.
Overnight programme ratings are derived from the minute-by-minute BARB data by third parties, i.e. research companies, by applying programme timings and calculating an average rating for the programme. It is the programme timings that are "unofficial" because they do not emanate from the broadcasters’ transmission logs, so there is a possibility that they could be incorrectly calculated. The accurate description, therefore, is: "according to BARB overnight viewing data Coronation Street last evening was watched by 9.5 million people (based on unofficial programme timings)."
In the About BARB section there is a glossary of BARB terminology which may aid in applying the correct descriptions of BARB data. For example:
Share (Share of Viewing)
The percentage of the total viewing audience watching over a given period of time. This can apply to channels, programmes, time periods, etc. An example is, a share of 40% for Coronation Street would mean that, of all the viewers watching television when Coronation Street was being transmitted, 40% were watching Coronation Street.
Reach
The net number or percentage of people who have seen a particular piece of broadcast output, e.g. a programme, daypart, channel, TV advertising campaign.
Programme or daypart reach assesses what percentage of the population saw a specified amount of a programme or daypart. It is also used cumulatively to assess the total net percentage that saw a specified amount of a complete series / month of television etc. There are various ways of defining the amount of viewing an individual must have done in order to be counted as having been "reached". A standard BARB convention is for this to be at least three consecutive minutes.
Alternatively, for TV advertising campaigns, reach (the net percentage of the target audience to have at least one opportunity to see the campaign) is often used in conjunction with frequency (the average number of times the campaign was seen by those within the target audience who were reached) to produce an overall measure of campaign exposure.
Rating
The TVR (Television Rating) is the relative audience and measure of the popularity of a programme, daypart, commercial break or advertisement by comparing its audience to the population as a whole. One TVR is numerically equivalent to one per cent of a target audience, for example, if Coronation Street achieved a Housewives TVR of 20 in Yorkshire this means that, on average, during the programme, 20% of all Housewives in the Yorkshire region watched Coronation Street.
Press Enquiries
For press enquiries please telephone Brown Lloyd James on 020 7591 9610 and ask for Sheila Thompson or Lisa Farrell, or contact them by e-mail at the addresses provided below.
Sheila Thompson: sheilat@blj.co.uk
Lisa Farrell: lisaf@blj.co.uk