Television Rating Australia

Television Rating Australia

Television Ratings

Why have ratings?
To establish how successfully a program is reaching its target audience.
To enable broadcasters to establish their market share.
To enable broadcasters to set their commercial rates.

Who conducts ratings?
OzTAM is the official source of television audience measurement (TAM), covering the five city metropolitan areas and nationally for Subscription TV.

How are ratings conducted?
Panel Selection
Households are recruited to OzTAM's panel via a large-scale Establishment Survey. The Establishment Survey defines the population to be represented and its characteristics.
The Establishment Survey is conducted to a high standard via telephone interviews throughout the year. In managing the recruitment process and monitoring turnover, the panel is an accurate representation of the population we provide data for.
Data Collection
Once a household has been recruited, all television sets are monitored by the meter system. The meter records and stores time, date, television set on/off, channel to which each television set is tuned, capturing all broadcast viewing. All residents and guests register their television usage using a remote control.
Data Delivery & Reporting
Every night the data is retrieved automatically via modem telephone software (silent phone call). The production system performs the collection, processing, validation, weighting and final production of each household's data.
Once the production processes have been completed, the television program information and ratings are integrated. All data undergoes rigorous quality control both electronically and manually. All results are released the following morning and the data is made available to our subscribers via a secure website.

Where are the ratings conducted?
Australian capital cities. See Oztam website for statistical local areas.

When are ratings conducted?
All year round. See website for ratings calenders.

Common terms used in rating...