TiVo Research to make TV ratings data available for free

TiVo Research has announced plans to give away basic TV ratings data for free, starting in the first quarter of 2016. 

TiVo’s US-based research subsidiary said its forthcoming platform for open TV ratings will be available to anyone and provide aggregated, national, programme-level ratings with basic age and sex demographics from TiVo Research’s more than 2.3 million households.

“We will be giving this basic data away because we don’t believe anyone should have to pay for this level of insight. Ratings are not where the focus needs to be. The focus needs to be on how you connect advertisers with audiences they really want to reach, with data that can ensure that, and metrics that can verify it,” said Frank Foster, senior vice president and general manager of TiVo Research.

“Those that are selling ratings data don’t want the focus to be where the industry needs to be. Ratings are not the issue of the day. We want to focus on what matters much more and that’s answering the real questions of how you target viewers more efficiently, at a time when all networks are facing ratings declines.”

The news follows the merger last month of Rentrak and comScore, with the combined company set to go head-to-head with Nielsen for TV and digital ratings.