THE first television viewing figures compiled under a new ratings system operated by the international market research firm, A.C. Nielsen, for RTE are available for the first time today.
The system comes into operation after A.C. Nielsen was successful in securing the estimated £4 million contract from RTE and the Institute of Advertising Practitioners (IAPI) last year. The five year contract is one of the biggest research contracts ever awarded in the State.
The system, which replaces the old TAM ratings, includes a wider panel of viewers and a mechanism for monitoring the viewing patterns of satellite dish owners.
RTE hopes the new system, Television Ratings Service (TRS), will give advertisers "more confidence" about the reliability of viewing figures.
RTE will pay 80 per cent of the cost of the new service, and the IAPI the balance.
The Nielsen viewers' panel is 50 per cent larger than the old TAM panel, and there will be a more detailed socio economic breakdown than was possible under the TAM system. The panel is also spread more widely throughout the State.
The new data are not expected to show any major shifts in viewing patterns, but they may show an increase in viewing share for satellite channels.
The system promises to make transferring viewing data to RTE and advertisers easier by using a PC based analysis system. This means the data can be easily downloaded from Nielsen's mainframe computer.
Today's figures, which refer to last night's television schedules, are available from 9 a.m.
