Mediametrie Aims for Portable Media Tracking by 2011

French audience measurement firm Mediametrie is planning to capture data tracking consumers' complete media usage habits in early 2008, and use portable tracking devices by 2011.

The company plans to expand its ratings coverage with 'watermark' - a system which embeds inaudible sounds in programming. The system includes a code which allows a comparison between the hour of broadcasting and the hour of receiving, explained Ivan Dulguerian, who heads the company's technology marketing and services. 'This will allow us to show a 'time-shifting' audience,' he added.

These inaudible tones have already been successfully tested by consultants who usually evaluate concert hall acoustics, to determine if humans can hear the sounds emitting from broadcasts.

Initially the system will be rolled out to set-tops monitoring TV, and then to radio, online and mobile phones. The company plans to add video game consoles at a later stage.

During the next four years, around $50m (EUR 35m) will be invested in testing the ratings system, which Mediametrie hopes will increase revenue nearly 40% by 2011. In addition, the firm plans to expand its test audience from 3,500 households (8,200 people) to 5,000 households (13,000 people) to ensure a robust sample.

'For many years, audience measurement was quite easy,' said Chief Executive Bruno Chetaille. 'You had to measure a few TV channels on one TV set at home. And there was only one way to broadcast: terrestrial networks. Now we are facing a multiplication of high-speed networks.'

The technology is similar to that used in Arbitron's Portable People Meter (PPM). Four years ago, Mediametrie signed a license agreement to evaluate the PPM system in Paris ( www.mrweb.com/drno2k/news2294.htm ). Founded in 1985, the firm is online at www.mediametrie.com.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.