BARB takes ‘fresh approach’ to service contracts

The UK’s Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB) has extended two of its four main service contracts, and has announced plans to take a “fresh approach” to the other two.

BARB has extended its contract with RSMB for survey design and methodology until the end of 2018. It has done the same with Kantar Media for its contract for panel management, meter installation, data collection and data production.

Currently BARB has two other contracts in place for: conducting the establishment survey, which provides data on the demographic, device and platform landscape; and for recruiting homes onto the panel so that there is a balanced, representative sample of the UK population.

However, BARB says it now plans to combine these into one contract, effective from January 2016, with the decision following a successful pilot study that BARB commissioned at the beginning of 2014.

“The pilot study demonstrated that this approach leads to a reduction of up to 90 days in the time between a home being contacted for the establishment survey and, if successfully recruited, becoming an active participant in the BARB panel,” said BARB.

Currently Ipsos-MORI is responsible for the establishment survey, while Kantar Media has the contract for panel recruitment. A tender tender process for the new, combined contract will begin with immediate effect and is expected to be awarded by the end of Q2 2015.