Mediaset España quits audience measurement system

Mediaset España is to leave local audience measurement body the AIMC over disagreements about the methodology used to build the generally accepted ratings source, the Estudio General de Medios (EGM).  

Mediaset sources have told Spanish press that the company has issues with the measurement system used by the EGM supplier, Kantar Media, and argues that the EGM methodology is out of date.

The move is the latest in a series of departures from industry bodies for Mediaset. The group has recently quit the Spanish Academia de las Ciencas y las Artes de Televisión and failed to make a nomination for its annual Premios Iris competition. It has also declined to participate in leading TV festival FesTVal, to be held this year in Murcia.

Separately, Kantar Media has struck a deal with Vodafone España to measure TV consumption using return-path data supplied by cable operator Ono, owned by Vodafone. Kantar Media will measure linear TV viewing, time-shifted and on-demand viewing and app usage in what it says is a first for the Spanish market. The data will be used to supplement the audience panel data it already gathers.