Freesat launches live audience measurement service

Alistair Thom

Freesat has launched a live audience measurement service, offering real-time viewing behaviour data about free-to-air TV audiences in the UK.

The service, which is aimed at channel executives and other decision-makers, captures anonymous data from more than 100,000 connected Freesat set-top boxes, whose users have opted in to share the data.

Running on an audience attribution platform developed by TVbeat, the service shows viewer behaviour across channels and programmes “to a high level of granularity”.

The service can return behavioural information related to live linear, time-shifted and on-demand viewing, and can be segmented by users’ location, viewing duration and resolution.

Freesat managing director, Alistair Thom, predicted the service will have a “significant and positive effect on the broadcast industry” and will benefit viewers by letting broadcasters respond to their preferences.

“Ultimately this real-time, granular measurement system will help to maintain a robust free-to-air TV market in the UK,” he claimed.

TVbeat founder, Robert Farazin, said: “With Freesat’s deep, raw datasets, and TVbeat’s fast and efficient platform we are able to process and contextualise data and provide insights which will be of immense value to broadcasters and programme makers both now and in the future.”