How Much Is Enough?

The previous post about online audience measurement prompted a discussion in the office about the mechanics of measurement (heads up, bit of a nerdy post this one - the discussion moved swiftly to more pressing matters concerning Graham Onions and Steve Harmison).

Anyone who has worked closely with ratings data, be it TV, radio or print knows that the mechanisms for recording viewing/listening/reading can be complex. More importantly the definitions used are often no more than arbitrary. For those that are not familiar with these definitions these are the ones for BARB, Rajar and the NRS:

• TV viewing is defined as 'being in the room with the TV switched on'

• Radio listening is defined as 'listening for 5 minutes or more during a fifteen minute period'

• Newspaper reading is defined as 'reading or looking at for at least 2 minutes'

Beneath these definitions are more complex rules and regulations that also play a role in the process of measurement, eg the TSA areas for radio (that define where a station broadcasts), sort cards for print (that build the short list for the readership questions), and so on. But these definitions also have one other factor built in, namely persistence. You have to listen to a radio station for 5 minutes in order to be recorded as a listener. Two minutes is the rule for reading a newspaper. For TV it’s 30 seconds in a clock minute (consecutive). These are designed to weedle out those who aren’t really of commercial value to an advertiser.

So what is the persistence level for online? 5 seconds? 20 seconds? As far as I can tell there isn’t one (if anyone knows differently let me know). Imagine the scenario: you are sitting at home in front of your laptop and you click on a link. No sooner has the home page loaded than you notice your trousers are on fire. You shut down immediately and call 999. But you’re still counted as a unique user. Is that right?

The purpose of media measurement is to evaluate the likelihood that an individual is exposed to advertising. On this basis established media are getting a raw deal. There is no way the online world will give up audience by introducing a persistence level, so maybe established media should think about relaxing theirs.