The Cable TV Virtual Diary (V-Diary) is a statistically modelled service based on yesterday cable viewership, using the same respondents as the Nielsen Media Index (NMI).
The launch means that PeopleMeter ratings data will remain off-limits to media agencies in Singapore; TNS has been disallowed from releasing these figures to agencies for the past two years.
"(V-Diary) is not as sophisticated as PeopleMeter," said one media agency. "But perhaps it benefits (StarHub)... It's a step forward."
"The V-Diary is different from the PeopleMeter," said NMR executive director Rebecca Tan. "... the cable market is highly fragmented... the V-Diary is able to address the special needs of the cable market by providing indepth detailed profiling and targeting these niche groups."
Media shops welcome StarHub's V-Diary
StarHub Cable has commissioned Nielsen Media Research (NMR) to launch a new cable TV tracking service, which it hopes to position as the de facto cable TV currency in Singapore.