News & Views

Proposals for new Barb service

20 December 2006

Barb’s deadline for the Request for Proposals from potential suppliers passed at noon on Friday 15thDecember.

Barb is encouraged by the response to the RfP process having received 24 proposals from 12 different organisations.

In the Request for Proposals, Barb emphasised some issues for the future that are anticipated to be addressed. Whereas once viewer choice was about which content was consumed, increasingly the how, the when and the where need to be added.

It’s therefore new distribution forms, on-demand, time-shift, transportability, and their combined effects which are some of the main generic issues that Barb faces in the search for the most effective measurement system for the future.

Alongside new distribution, even the long-established fixed set in a living room is expected to be affected by new technology. The array of devices connected – perhaps in some cases wirelessly – will transform some homes. There is more potential change for televisual consumption now than there has ever been.

Barb’s goal in assessing the proposals in coming weeks is to translate how effectively potential suppliers may be able to deliver the required measurement for the future, in the context of what the industry may be prepared to fund. Barb intends to develop a cohesive system design for the benefit of all with an interest in televisual content.

The Request for Proposals was the first formal stage in Barb’s tendering process for new research contracts which are required from 2010. The process will continue with a more defined Invitation to Tender expected to be issued in April 2007, with final tenders anticipated to be received in July 2007.