New Barb Contracts for NatCen, Ipsos and RSMB
January 12 2026
UK video audience measurement body Barb has announced the winners of its recent contract tenders for 2027-29. NatCen and RSMB will deliver its Establishment Survey and Ipsos its panel top-up recruitment.
Previously known as the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board, Barb changed its name in 2023 to Barb Audiences, as it continued to extend its measurement beyond broadcasting to include VOD streamers and video-sharing platforms. The organisation uses a hybrid approach, combining people-based panel data with census-level online viewing data, to generate figures for total viewing across all broadcast, VOD and video-sharing platforms, and multiple platforms and devices.
NatCen will deliver the Establishment Survey, using random-probability and face-to-face fieldwork, with four core objectives:
- To ensure the panel reflects up-to-date estimates of viewing equipment use
- To set target numbers for different types of homes on the 7,000-strong panel, to represent all of UK society
- To provide 'robust insight' into the penetration of - and overlap between - new and established TV platforms; and
- To identify homes for recruitment onto the panel.
NatCen will work with RSMB to redesign the survey questionnaire to improve interview flow and participant accessibility, with RSMB leading on survey weighting, reporting through a new dashboard, and quality assurance. NatCen and Ipsos will jointly recruit a pool of homes opting in to Barb's nationally-representative panel: NatCen will recruit target homes that have taken part in the Establishment Survey, while Ipsos will use a variety of contact techniques to top up recruitment, identifying additional new homes.
NatCen will also start to test the use of mixed-mode methods as part of the Establishment Survey.
Barb COO Caroline Baxter says of the choices: 'NatCen has extensive experience of complex questionnaire design and conducting high-quality, random-probability fieldwork for government research, while RSMB is an expert in sample design for media research, including for Barb. Their partnership makes them well-placed to ensure the Establishment Survey is flexible and future-facing, while retaining a high-quality design and implementation. Ipsos is a longstanding partner of Barb and successfully managed the expansion of our panel to 7k homes in 2024. It has the crucial experience and infrastructure needed to run the panel top-up recruitment contract.'
Web site:
www.barb.co.uk .
