Dates and Formats for South Africa's New Video Measure

The Broadcast Research Council of South Africa (BRC) has issued more details of the new ad currency system coming into force on January 1st next year, Total Video Measurement (TVM).

A year ago the non-profit ad currency body said previous measurement provider Nielsen was exiting the country, and the same week confirmed that its former sister company NielsenIQ would be taking over, tapping experience from its acquisition of GfK.

TVM uses a single, fused panel to report daily on audience for linear TV, time-shifted viewing, connected TV on the big screen and online video on personal devices. BRC says test data from the solution will be available from the end of October 2026, to allow the industry time to prepare systems, planning processes and teams. The organisation says it has 'consolidated the roadmap' for launch, in part due to a surprisingly rapid shift in the country's 'video landscape', towards online viewing: linear and online measurement will therefore launch together, rather than running an interim TV-only phase.

The panel includes around 4,200 TV panel homes with people meters, including router meters in approximately 25-30% of homes for connected-TV capture on the big screen. This is fused daily with a c.2,000-person online panel, and weighted against a continuously updated Establishment Survey.

The service will offer two reporting levels: Broadcaster Total TV (linear TV + CTV on the TV set) and Total Video (this plus adds platform-level online video on personal devices). Platform-level data will be available from day one, including breakdown for SABC+, Showmax, YouTube and TikTok; and broadcaster programme / episode detail on digital will be added in the v2.0 upgrade in mid-2027.

BRC says there will be no comparability with previous measurements - historic TAMS trend claims will not be valid. The organisation will operate an open software market - any vendor it certifies can deliver TVM data. Users are advised to familiarise themselves with the new datasets from October onwards, in preparation; to check with their suppliers whether and how they are participating; and to nominate a TVM lead who will receive updates and interface with BRC on classifications.

Web site: www.brcsa.org.za .