Australia's TV ratings system and the destination of USdollars 1.3
billion worth of advertising generated annually remain uncertain as
ACNielsen and the company brought in to replace it continue to produce
markedly different numbers.
As the new season of programming started with the end of the southern
hemisphere summer, both ACNielsen and newcomer OzTam are tallying
ratings - even though the former lost the contract to collect the
ratings of Australia's three commercial terrestrial channels and the
state broadcaster ABC in 1999.
However, OzTam is owned by the three commercial networks, and
advertising agencies have doubts about its impartiality.
As a result, agencies continue to subscribe to ACNielsen's
peoplemeter-generated findings. OzTam has 3,000 peoplemeters in state
capital city homes, compared with AC Nielsen's 2,500.
When each produced their findings for the opening night of the new
season, OzTam found that Channel Seven headed the ratings with 1.55
million viewers for its Popstars programme.
However, ACNielsen put Channel Nine's Backyard Blitz in pole position
with 1.82 million viewers.
Conversely OzTam put Backyard Blitz in fourth with 1.43 million viewers
and AC Nielsen placed Popstars in the same position with 1.61
million.
Mr Ian Garland, managing director of ACNielsen International, Australia,
defended his company - after reports that its findings were skewed
towards older viewers - by releasing a detailed breakdown of the
composition of the viewing panels.
He took a swipe at OzTam saying, "We have yet to see convincing facts
from the new provider to satisfy the broadcasting and advertising
industries that their recruited panel look like the market being
measured."
OzTam admitted in a leaked memo to subscribers that there may be
glitches in its data.
The company said its panel had too many families with young children,
and what it called "light" viewers, normally too busy to watch TV.
"Variations such as these are normal in the establishment of any new
panel and they can take time to be brought in balance," the memo
added.
The advertising industry has been predictably outraged by the
admission.
Ms Anne Parsons, managing director of Zenith Media, one of Australia's
largest media agencies, commented: "We need disclosure from both
ACNielsen and OzTam. What the discrepancies have highlighted is that we
have two companies going through the same processes and coming up with
dramatically different results."
