TV research

GUIDELINES FOR THE RELEASE OF TV PANEL DATA

Prepared by the Television Industry Committee

June 2010

The objective of these guidelines is the standardization of principles of the TV Panel data release. We anticipate that compliance with the guidelines will allow users of TV Panel data to get correct information, relevant not only within the television market of Ukraine but also in other countries.

1. References to GfK Ukraine as a source of TV Panel data are mandatory. If data pertain to specific programs or advertising displays, the source of this information should be indicated - Communication Alliance.
2. The software license owner shall be specified.
3. If the data were further processed in any way, please include this information: introduction of a new variable, additional mathematical processing, etc. If the rule for calculation of the total with the variable is different from the MMW rule by default, it should also be noted.
4. The final data (the data provided on the third day) should be used by default. If you used preliminary / overnight data (on the next day after the broadcast), it must be noted: “Based on preliminary data”.
5. By default, the calculations shall be presented for the full days from 3.00 to 3.00 (27.00). If you use a different time interval, please specify the timeframe.
6. Indication of the variable used for data calculation is mandatory, with the reference to the GfK Ukraine’s glossary.
7. If you use individual parameters, the target audiences by which the data are provided and sizes of these groups in the general population should be indicated (you can find this on the GfK Ukraine’s web-site)
8. If during the calculation in MMW special conditions were created (target groups, filters, determining the viewer), please describe them. Your information should allow any other user to obtain figures similar to those provided by you.
9. For audience analysis of a program or any other event rat # or rat% indicator should be used. This indicator defines the average number of viewers of the target group that watched a program / event every second. We recommend using this indicator to assess the audience size of a program or any other event. For example, the audience size of the Eurovision-2008 Final on the National TV channel of Ukraine on May 24, 2008 amounted to 2.8 million viewers.
10. For the analysis of exposure to a program / event the rch% or rch # reach indicator should be used. This indicator determines the number of viewers exposed to a program at least 1 second (by default) or any other preset time period of viewing a television program. If you use the reach indicator, the duration of exposure and type of duration calculation (cumulative or consecutive) should be specified. For example, 4.6 million people for at least 5 consecutive minutes, or 8 million people for at least 1 second were exposed to the Eurovision-2008 Final on the National TV channel of Ukraine on May 24, 2008.
11. By default, data are calculated by the general population: people aged 4+ who live in households with TV sets. At the moment the TV Panel made three samples:
    
    1. Cities with population over 50 thousand (sample 50 K +);
    2. Localities with population less than 50 thousand (sample 50 K -);
    3. Whole Ukraine.
       Please specify which sample you use for data publication.
12. The analysis results of target groups smaller than 75 people in the sample are not statistically reliable; therefore, if you use them, you should specify the size of the target group in the panel and unreliability of the results.

If you have any further questions on the data or principles of data publication, please contact the Media Research Department of GfK Ukraine: tel. 044 230 02 60.