TAM Glossary of Terms - Broadcast Research Council of South Africa

Adult
An adult is a panel member of age 15 years or older. The ages of all persons in the panel are automatically updated on the anniversary of their recorded birth dates. When a child turns 4 years old, he or she becomes eligible for participation in the TAM panel as per the TAM Universe.

AQH
Average Quarter Hour denotes the average audience across quarter hour unit intervals.

ASR
Automatic Spot Recognition, a proprietary solution within Nielsen TVEvents system. The ASR Engine scans real time digitized TV transmissions for commercials and stores these in a database of Recognitions. The ASR works with both video and audio algorithms, to maximize the level of recognition.

ATS
Average Time Spent viewing, the total sum of all recorded time spent viewing (e.g. minutes) across a given period (e.g. day, week) divided by the number of individuals in the universe / population being measured. Also known as Average Time Viewed (ATV).

Audience Share
The percentage of total TV viewing across a specified time interval of a given channel or programme.

Audience Profile
The demographic composition of individuals (or households) viewing across a specified time interval of a given channel or programme.

Audience Rating (AR). (Also referred to as TVR and GRP)

In line with international convention, the old, but in every way identical, AMPS Rating [AR] has given way to ‘TV rating’. This is only a terminological and not a methodological change. For the purposes of this report the convention is to use ‘TV rating’ or ‘GRP’. (See also GRP and TV Rating)

Definition of TV Rating

A TV rating is the proportion of viewers, averaged across some time period (a commercial spot or break, a ¼ hour or a programme] and percentage on the total number of individual panel members in the relevant group [e.g. ‘all adults’ or ‘females’].

Ratings are calculated by summing the products of numbers of viewers and relevant times spent viewing, within the period concerned, and dividing by the product of the total number of potential viewers and the duration of the period concerned. A TV rating is thus, in effect, a time-weighted average of audience size, indicated by an index which varies between 0 and 100 (the ‘TV rating’).

However, because visitors to panel households are included, a maximum rating greater than 100 is theoretically possible as visitors are not included in the base, but are included in the TV ratings. Visitors to metered households compensate in part for panel members who view in non-metered households.

Bouquet
Refers to the selection of general and thematic TV channels that are offered as a package to subscribing households.

Break Position
Position of a commercial spot within a break e.g. first in break / last in break.

CAPI
Computer Assisted Personal Interview, a method of conducting face to face interviews with the use of a laptop for prompting questions and recording answers.

CATI
Computer Assisted Telephone Interview, a method of conducting interviews over the phone with the use of a PC for prompting questions and recording answers.

Calculated Universe
The sum of all weights of all households and individuals belonging to the specific target market selected.

Children
A child is an individual of age 4-14 (since 2009), living in a private TAM households.

Churn (Rate)
Index of turnover applied to commercial pay TV systems as a whole or to channel packages available on pay TV services. An important indicator of pay TV service performance, which is defined as the number of subscriber disconnections during a set period divided by the average number of subscribers during that period. This produces an annualized percentage.

Commercial and Programme Logs
A record of all commercials and programmes transmitted by TV channels, this information may be provided by the TV channel itself or by an independent source; and is matched against the processed individual viewing statements so as to permit viewing figures for specific commercials and programmes. The logs may contain additional information such as typology codes and commercial flighting codes.

Consolidated Audience/Viewing
The consolidated audience is the sum of the live and time shift audience.

Content Provider / Supplier
A Company or organization responsible for creating content, whether movies, TV programming or interactive games applications, etc.

Cost Efficiency
Financial performance measure of a schedule of advertising spots that is calculated by dividing the price paid, by the audience delivery with reference to the target audience(s) of the advertising campaign. The principal measures of cost efficiency are Cost Per Rating point (CPR) and Cost Per Thousand (CPT or CPM).

Coverage
Measure of advertising reach. Derivative terms such as 1+ cover and 4+ cover denote the percentage of the target audience that has been exposed to a schedule of advertising spots at least a certain number of times (e.g. at least once, or at least four times, etc). (Also see Reach).

CPP / CPRP
Cost Per Rating Point, the average cost of achieving one commercial rating point (i.e. advertising GRP) with a 30 second advertising spot (or other standard unit of airtime) for a given target audience. CPP’s are widely used as a measure of the cost efficiency of advertising campaigns or for comparing price differences across different TV channels. The alternative widely used measure of cost efficiency is Cost Per Thousand (CPT or CPM).

CPT / CPM
Cost Per Thousand or Cost Per Mille:

Television: The average cost of achieving 1,000 commercial impacts against a specified target audience, and usually adjusted to a 30 second advertising spot length. CPTs / CPMs are widely used as a measure of the cost efficiency of advertising campaigns or for comparing price differences across different TV channels. The alternative widely used measure of cost efficiency is to advertising Cost Per Rating point (CPR or CPRP).

Definition of Viewing
Panel members are requested to use the following definition of viewing to determine when they should log in or out: “TV viewing is being in a position where you are able to see the screen of a TV set which is switched on – even if you are doing something else”

Daypart
Division of the broadcast day constitution a single timeband (e.g. early morning: 06.00-09.00). Most TAM systems divide the day into eight dayparts (e.g. Early morning; Mid to late morning; Lunchtime; Early to mid-afternoon; Late afternoon; Peak / Prime time; Late evening; Night). The dayparts correspond with broad variations in audience size and composition across the broadcast day.

Decoder
Device (also called Convertor or Set-Top box) that decodes digital transmission signals and converts them for display on to the TV set.

Disaggregated Viewing Data
Same as Elementary or Respondent level viewing data – processed viewing data held at the level of Individual respondents. The basic components of disaggregated viewing data are individual viewing statements consisting of complete time records across each broadcasting day off all viewing sessions by every family member and guest on all metered TV sets in the home.

Disproportional Sampling
Sampling in which different sub-populations have different probabilities of selection, resulting in oversampling / under-sampling of some groups compared with others. Disproportional sampling by selected region(s) is quite common in TAM research.

Effective Frequency
The level of exposure frequency at which reach is deemed “effectively” delivered.

Effective Reach
The number or percentage of a target audience that is exposed to a schedule of advertising spots at a set level frequency. This will typically specify a lower threshold value indicating the minimum level of exposure deemed as sufficient for “effective” advertising purposes (e.g. 4+ reach) and an upper threshold (e.g.12+ reach) above which additional exposures are considered as waste.

Enforced (panel) Turnover
Homes dropped from a panel on the initiative of the data supplier. The principal categories of enforced turnover are:

Turnover in order to preserve / improve panel balance
Turnover to reduce panel age as a precaution against creeping panel bias and /or panel fatigue (with some TAM systems setting a maximum length of service)
Turnover due to non-compliance with panel viewing instructions.

Engagement
Referring to user involvement in the media consumed.

Event Types
Classifications of broadcast types found in the TV environment. They can be major, like commercial and non-commercial, or detailed like spot, sponsor, announcement or programme.

Exclusive Reach
Individuals who, during the period of analysis, have watched only one channel for at least one minute.

Fragmentation (Audience)
When broad television audiences break into smaller segments due to multiple viewing choices and niche programming that targets particular demographics.

Frequency
The average number of times that members of a target audience who have been counted at least once as viewers to a schedule of advertising spots (or sequence of programmes), have counted as viewers.

Gold Standard
Industry declared correct audience value, most often used in connection with viewer ratings. The object of laying down “gold standards” is to prevent disputes between buyers and sellers of commercial airtime over the correct audience figures that have arisen on account of them using different software yielding estimates of viewing.

GRP (Also see AR and TVR)
Gross Rating Point, a unit of audience volume, which is based on the percentage of the target audience population that has viewed a transmission across a unit interval (based on the second by second audience).

e.g. a GRP of 10 implies an audience size that is equal to 10% of the audience being measured. Meanwhile the total GRP delivery of a schedule of advertising spots is equal to the sum of commercial GRP / ratings across all of the spots contained in the schedule.

GRP totals or averages may be estimated for a wide range of different time periods, programmes or commercial selections. For the purposes of calculating GRP’s and making comparisons, commercial GRPs for each advertising spot are typically adjusted to a standard 30 second spot interval [the so called 30 second equivalent].

Home Language
Home language is a household variable, the classification resting on the claim of the head of the household being interviewed:

English / Other = English or some non South African language
Afrikaans / Both = Afrikaans or Afrikaans and English equally
Sotho languages = Sotho [North and South Sotho, Tswana, Venda, Tsonga]
Nguni languages = Nguni [Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi, Ndebele or other]
When a guest registers viewership, the guest is deemed to be of the same language group as the household he / she is viewing in.

Household Purchaser
Any respondent of either gender who claims to be solely or partly responsible for the day-to-day purchases of the household, is described as a household purchaser. There may be more than one person who could claim to be a “household purchaser” within any given household, although only one would be interviewed.

HUT
Homes Using TV, a term mainly used in the US that refers to the percentage of homes using (tuned in to) TV at a particular time (see also PUT).

Individual Viewing Statements
Raw meter records where each statement contains information concerning:

Start and end time of viewing session
Identification of signal source and TV set being viewed
Identity of viewer
Coded demographic and other information about the individual’s identity
The individual’s daily weight

Processed individual viewing statements constitute the basic components of disaggregated viewing data.

Lead-in / Lead-out
A programme preceding / following the time period of the programme being analysed.

Linear TV
Term for a real time television services that transmit programme schedules. Almost all broadcast TV services count as linear TV, the main exception being Near Video-On-Demand (NVOD) transmissions of pay-per-view programmes over a large number of channel feeds. The alternative non-linear TV covers all on-demand programming, which is available to view at any time the user decides and not constrained by the real-time broadcast schedules. The linear versus non-linear TV distinction may also be applied to the nature of viewing, whether it is live (linear) or time shift (non-linear).

Live Audience
The audience of a commercial daypart or programme at the time of its actual transmission.

Main Purchaser
An adult claiming sole or main responsibility for the household shopping.

Makegood
Extra advertising spots in compensation of a scheduling error / alteration by the TV channel or failure to deliver an audience guarantee target during the campaign period.

Media Dependent
Media planning / buying specialist dependent on a creative agency with common ownership.

Media Independent
Media planning / buying specialist on behalf of creative agencies under separate ownership.

Net Daily Reporting Sample (in-tab sample)
The final sample yielding audience measurement data on a given day after polling and validation is equal to the in production sample, less households that were not successfully polled and households that were successfully polled but rejected during validation for technical or behavioural reasons. (See also 1.84 Reporting Homes)

OTS
Opportunity To See, a commonly used term denoting frequency of media exposure. For television it is synonymous with frequency.

Out of Home Viewing
All viewing that takes place outside the home (e.g. viewing at a friend’s house or at a public venue, such as in pubs, clubs, hotels or work places).

Overnight Viewing Data
Viewing data delivered the next day [specifically the Viewing data and not the Event data]. The term is sometimes used in a narrower sense to refer to initial data output covering a restricted selection of key target audiences that is delivered to clients at the earliest opportunity the next day (i.e. during the morning).

Panel Balance
Conformity of actual panel allocation to the ideal panel allocation for selected panel control variables.

Panel Fatigue
Deterioration in quality of panel measurement that may occur as a function of the length of time that households / individuals have belonged to a panel (e.g. possible increased levels of measured nil or uncovered viewing as panel members cooperate less with their button-pressing instructions over time).

Panel Maintenance
Panel staff functions of preserving panel balance over time and likewise accuracy of panel classifications and quality of panel response through the exercise of regular and periodic quality control procedures.

Patronage
Patronage is the ‘unduplicated’ proportion of a selected universe [such as adults, females 16-34 etc.] which views a given TV channel during a specified time period for a minimum session of 16 consecutive seconds. [Unduplicated: A person is counted only once, irrespective of the number of times they have viewed that channel].

Example: If the weekly patronage for TV channel Y for target market X is 43: then 43% of target market X viewed channel Y at some time during the week in question (each individual having at least 1 viewing session of longer than 15 seconds).

Penetration (medium / channel)
The percentage of people (or homes) within a defined universe that are physically able to be exposed to a medium / receive a particular TV channel.

PeopleMeter
Generic name for the electronic measurement system which monitors the channel that a TV set is tuned to and the individuals present in the room while the TV set is switched on. Individual demographics are measured through a complimentary specialized remote control. (See also Criterion of Viewing)

Person Viewing
TAM panel data is reliant on each member of every household logging into the system when viewing, and logging out when ceasing to view, this also includes visitors.

Polled Sample
In production meter sample that has been successfully polled by the central processing base of the data supplier and is available for inclusion in the net daily reporting sample.

Polling
Procedure for collecting data from meter panel homes, usually by means of cellular radio or one-way connection methods from the central processing base of the data supplier, which downloads in the early hours of the morning meter data from the previous broadcast day(s) via a modem connection with the central meter data storage unit in the home. Alternatively, landlines may be used to collect meter data daily.

Position in Break
Refers to the running order of a commercial break and where a specific advertisement fell within that e.g. 2/8.

Post (campaign) Evaluation
Evaluation of a media schedule at the end of a campaign, with audience delivery data in the case of TV advertising.

Primetime
Evening day part associated with largest audiences, generally between 17.00 and 22.00, though precise times may vary by country.

Processed Viewing Statements
Processed individual viewing statements after editing, validation and conversion of raw meter records into basic units, for calculating ratings and reach, as per the algorithms for assigning ratings.

Product Placement
Paid for placement of an advertiser’s product within a programme.

Profile (adhesion)
The composition of a channel / programme audience, as defined by the proportionate contribution of different demographic categories against one or more variables, such as age and sex (e.g. a channel profile of 26% for Adults 15-34 means that 26% of the total audience for that channel was aged 15-34).

Programme Genre
The classification of programme by type, e.g. sport, drama, chat show etc.

Programme Loyalty
The measure of a constant programme audience across a series of episodes. Numerous different operational definitions may be used to define programme loyalty.

PUT
People Using TV, a term mainly used in the USA to denote average percentage of people using TV across all channels within a set time period (see also 1.44 HUT).

PVR
Personal Video Recorder, a device also called Digital Video Recorder (DVR), which uses a hard drive to record and store digital video content. An important feature of the PVR is that it allows viewers to pause, fast-forward and rewind live programmes. Some PVR appliances also have the capability to suggest programmes for users by recognizing their viewing behaviour.

Persistence

Persistence is used to suppress ‘noise’ in the data without dispensing with good viewing data.

When a person logs in for less than 15 seconds, that viewing is discarded
When a person changes TV channel for less than 15 seconds, that viewing is allocated to the TV channel viewed immediately prior to the change [this is known as the “persistence” setting, expressed in seconds
When a person changes a TV channel for a period longer than 15 seconds, the viewing is allocated to the new TV channel as from the time of the change. The change is only made after he / she has viewed for 15 seconds, but back-dated to where he / she was first found at the new TV channel.

Whilst PeopleMeters continuously scan the status of TV sets and individuals in time intervals of less than a second, it ignores any viewing session of less than 15 seconds.

The purpose of this filter is to eliminate momentary viewing that lacks ‘persistence’. The advantage of this international convention is to strip ‘noise’ out of the data.

Random Sample

A sample in which every element in the population has an equal chance of being selected.

Reach (or Cover / Cume)
The cumulative percentage or total (usually expressed in thousands) of a population that has been counted as viewers at least once during a specified interval. Examples of commonly used reach measures are TV channel daily / weekly / monthly reach, advertising campaign reach programme reach / programme series reach, daypart reach and so on. Commonly used synonyms are Cume and Cover. (See also Cover)

Reporting Homes
The number of panel homes that contribute to the daily ratings. Where failure to meet quality control standards or communications related problems occur, such installed homes are eliminated from the reporting panel (also known as In-tab homes). (See also 1.53 Net Daily Reporting Sample)

Response Bias
Bias in survey data due to measurement methods (e.g. recall bias in diary or day after recall TAM research, or panel fatigue in PeopleMeter measurement).

Return Path
A data link that goes from a digital television system subscriber back to the system head-end. For a cable system, this may be the same cable. For a satellite or IPTV system, it may be a telephone landline or a GPRS link.

RIM Weighting
Random Iterative Method Weighting that puts selected non-interlocking and grouped interlocking variables in isolation through an iterative sequence of weighting adjustments. The sequence adjusts for each RIM in turn and then repeats itself as many times as is required in order to obtain a convergence, in which the sum of the weighted RIMs matches the target population estimates, or is as close as it is possible to achieve. (See also Weight Factor)

Sales House
Separate organization or department within a TV channel responsible for selling commercial airtime.

Sample
One or more elements (individuals or households) selected from a universe to represent that universe.

Sample Error
Statistical measure of the possible deviation of a sample estimate from the true population value, assuming the sample to be representative of the population from which it has been drawn. The sample error is normally expressed as a margin of difference either side of the reported value within specified confidence limits (i.e. “there is an X% probability that the true population value lies within Y units either side of the sample estimate”). Sample error is wholly distinct and not to be confused with sample bias, for which no parametric statistical assumptions can be made.

Sample Size
The number of households or individuals selected for a research sample.

Sample Frame
Source of addresses / household telephone numbers from which a pre-selected probability sample of identified individuals or households are drawn for interview. Usually the sampling frame is external (e.g. official population register of households / individuals, telephone list, list of postal addresses, electoral lists). Where such pre-existing sources do not exist, data suppliers may create their own sampling frames by means of conducting a micro-census or by carrying out a prior enumeration study of households in areas selected for the establishment survey fieldwork. Alternatively they may work without a sampling frame, but in that case it would not be completely random.

SI
Service Information, proprietary information about the applications software in a set-top box, which can be used to facilitate the measurement of non-real-time broadcast viewing (e.g. PVR use) and on-demand viewing, but relies on the co-operation of the service provider.

Slave Meter
Meter installed on a TV set or other equipment that is “subservient “to another “master” meter in the household, which controls some of its functions (e.g. time synchrony) and collects data from it for temporary storage and delivery to the central processing base of the data supplier during polling.

Solo-Viewing
Defines the condition where the members of a reference target are the focus of an analysis only when they are watching television alone.

Standard Error
Standard deviation of the sample error distribution of a sample estimates. 1.96 standard Errors denotes the upper and lower bound margins of sample error that correspond with 95% confidence limits.

SAP
Station Average Price, estimated cost of unit audience delivery on a TV channel based on advertising Cost Per Rating point (CPRs) or advertising Cost Per Thousand (CPTs or CPMs). SAP is normally calculated with reference to specified time periods (usually calendar months) and selected target audience(s).

STB
Set Top Box, a device that receives, processes and converts incoming TV signals, for display on TV sets. The Set Top Box may be designed to receive signals in analogue or digital form and from cable, satellite and terrestrial sources.

Stratification
A means of improving the quality of a probability sample by selecting sample elements according to population variables with known distribution profiles in order to determine a proportional or Disproportional allocation of the survey sample. Examples of commonly used stratification variables are ‘region’, ‘type of settlement’ and ‘household size’.

Target Market (or Target Audience)
Core TV audience which an advertiser is aiming to reach, typically specified in terms of sex, age, socioeconomic grade and housewife / main shopper categories. In many countries, airtime prices are negotiated with respect to specified target audience.

TSV
Timeshift Viewing, later viewing of video recordings of live television transmissions (i.e. Playback of recorded live transmissions). (See also 1.25 Criterion of Viewing)

Trick Mode
Pausing, rewinding and fast forwarding live or stored video content.

TVEvents System
TVEvents is the broadcast monitoring system of Nielsen Media Research that offers a complete, highly reliable and easy to use suite of tools for the creation, collection and maintenance of high quality TVEvents databases.

TV Rating (TVR). (Also referred to as AR and GRP)

Definition of TV Rating

Uncovered Viewing / Set Use
Meter statements indicating that the TV set is switched on, but without any persons registered as present.

Unidentified Channel Viewing
The viewing of an unknown frequency as ascertained by DFM [Direct Frequency Measurement] or tuner meters. The frequency is usually presumed to belong to a channel, although it may indicate a separate output source (e.g. a video games console).

Visitors (also known as Guest Viewing)
A visitor is anyone from the age of 4 upwards, who is not normally resident in the panel household and whose name is therefore not registered on the system. Every time a visitor logs in a new record is created.

If the same visitor views in the same household on three different occasions, three different visitors will be recorded. Visitors are not and cannot be taken into account when reach is calculated. Data on each visitor’s gender and age is recorded on each occasion, but they are automatically assigned the income and home language of the hosting household.

VOD
Video On-Demand, a programme service where the content is not broadcast, but stored in a library which users can access on-demand. Typical VOD content offerings include recently aired television programmes(as in catch-up TV), popular series, selected categories of thematic programming (e.g. music, children’s programmes), and movies. There are three models of VOD:

Content-free VOD
Pay-per-title, where the user pays an individual fee per programme or event
Subscription VOD, where the user pays a flat fee for access

VOSDAL
Viewing On Same Day As Live, when South Africa moves to measuring viewership in satellite households, the plan is to follow the UK and use the VOSDAL methodology i.e. to measure all viewership on each day [live and time shifted] up to the time that polling begins at 02H00.

Weight Factor
Multiplication factor for converting the size of a sample to the population estimate for the survey universe.
(See also RIM Weighting)

Within Programme Break
Commercial break within a programme.

Zapping
Flicking through different TV channels, often to avoid a commercial break.

*** All Media Product Survey AMPS