How is TV viewership measured? How Médiamat works

What Is Médiamat Médiamat Registered name, the Médiamat is the benchmark in television audience measurement in France. Carried out by Médiamétrie, it provides daily audience figures for programmes watched anywhere, on any screen, live, timeshifted, on replay or preview, by all French people aged 4 and over, i.e. 62.4 million individuals. The measurement is based on 2 representative panels : - A first panel of around 12,000 individuals in 5,500 households, comprising : • 5,000 households equipped with home TV sets, each connected to a fixed audimeter, the source of home TV audience measurement • 500 households without home TV sets - A second panel of around 5,000 individuals carrying a personal portable meter to measure TV audiences out of home (all screens) and on Internet screens at home. These audiences are then attributed to the individuals in the first panel by statistical fusion. The Médiamat allows Médiamétrie to monitor audience behaviour on a daily basis, while offering the possibility of both editorial and advertising analysis. Find out more and How Are TV Audiences Measured?

To understand how TV audiences are measured, it is worth looking at the robust and well-established system developed in France. Since 1985, television audiences have been measured by Médiamétrie, using a methodology that is independently audited and certified by CESP (Centre for the Study Study Any research done across a population, line of business, or products (programme content, programme schedules, etc.) A study relies most often on the data coming out of a survey (or surveys). Find out more of Advertising Media).

This audience measurement audience measurement Quantitative study of the frequency of use of media. Find out more system, known as Médiamat, has continuously evolved to keep pace with changing viewing habits. Today, it measures all forms of television consumption, providing a comprehensive view of how audiences engage with TV content across different screens, locations, and viewing modes.

A Comprehensive View of Television Audiences

Médiamat provides a comprehensive view of television audiences based on several key dimensions:

• All locations: viewing at home, outside the home, and on the go.
• All screens: traditional TV sets as well as internet-connected devices, including computers, smartphones, and tablets.
• All viewing modes: live viewing, recordings, catch-up TV catch-up TV This refers to the TV viewing modes whereby a programme is watched on demand after its live broadcast. See Watch again, Catch-up, Time-shifted viewing. Find out more , and preview preview A way to view a television programme via a catch-up platform before it is broadcast on live TV. Find out more services, measured both overall and by programme.

This measurement covers the entire French population population The universe of a survey composed of basic statistical units. These units may be physical persons, households, companies, municipalities, etc. The population serves as a sampling frame for selecting a sample, and as a basis for calculation of the extrapolations from the sample. Find out more , including households without a television set.

Every morning at 9 a.m., Médiamétrie publishes the previous day's TV audience audience The set of listeners, viewers, or TV viewers in which each individual is equally weighted, regardless of their listening/viewing duration or frequency of contact. Find out more figures. These results are closely monitored by broadcasters, advertisers, media agencies, and industry stakeholders. They support editorial decision-making, advertising strategies, market analysis, and competitive benchmarking.

A Scientific Measurement Based on Two Representative Representative A sample is said to be representative when it has been generated via a representative draw, meaning that each individual in the population had a non-zero probability of being selected. Representativeness relates to the sample and not to a unit of the population. It is not synonymous with a proportional sample or a "reduced model" of the population studied. In survey theory, it has been demonstrated that an optimal sampling strategy consists of organising the sample according to the variables that are most correlated to the subject of the study. Find out more Panels

The reliability and accuracy of the measurement are based on statistically representative samples of the French population, known as panels. Throughout the process, Médiamétrie ensures the strict protection of panelists' personal data personal data Means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (hereinafter the ‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person. Find out more , with all information collected and processed anonymously.

The In-Home Television Audience Panel Panel A sample from which information is collected over time. It can be questioned several times at regular intervals. This method is pertinent for studying changes in behaviour. The sample can be questioned continuously: - either: each individual in the panel is asked to fill in a daily questionnaire relating to the subject of the study. This is the case for the Radio panel. - or the information is recorded and returned regularly. This is the case for the Médiamat panel. This method is pertinent for understanding behavioural patterns and their changes if the panel lasts long enough. Find out more

The first pillar of the measurement is based on a panel of approximately 5,500 households, whether or not they own a television set, representing around 12,000 individuals aged four and over.

To ensure that the panel accurately reflects the French population, participating households are selected across all regions, socio-demographic categories, television equipment types, and reception methods.

The Complementary Panel for Digital Digital A signal is said to be digital if it can be represented by a series of discrete values that can be coded in binary as either 0 or 1. It is the opposite of analogue signal. Digital broadcasting has become the primary mode for television broadcasting, whether by cable, satellite, or even terrestrial. Find out more and Out-of-Home Viewing

To capture evolving digital and mobile viewing habits, Médiamétrie also relies on a complementary panel of approximately 5,000 individuals.

This panel is specifically designed to measure television viewing on internet-connected devices within the home, as well as viewing that takes place outside the home, regardless of the screen used.

Measurement Technologies: People Meters and Watermarking Watermarking The technology used in television and radio audience measurement. Watermarking consists of inserting an (audio) tag into broadcasts that is inaudible to the human ear. This tag identifies the channel airing the programme, as well as regular markers of the broadcast time. Audience meters installed in panellist homes detect these signals. Find out more

From a technical perspective, TV audience measurement relies on high-precision devices installed within participating households.

Measuring In-Home Television Viewing

For households equipped with a television set, fixed people meters are installed on every TV screen in the home. These devices are eco-designed to minimise energy consumption.

Each household household In the statistical sense of the term, a household refers to all occupants of the same dwelling, whether they are related or not. A household may be composed of a single person. Household populations therefore effectively exclude some communities (workers' hostels, retirement homes, university residences, prisons, etc.), the homeless, seamen and people living in mobile homes. Find out more member is assigned a dedicated button on a remote control control All the operations implemented to verify the quality of information gathering: the work of the interviewers, the participation of the interviewees, progress against objectives, etc. Find out more , which they use to indicate when they are watching television.

These meters identify the content being viewed and determine precisely when it is watched, whether live, time-shifted, on replay, or via preview services, using watermarking technology.

This technology consists of embedding a unique identifier, completely inaudible to viewers, within the audio stream of television programmes.

Measuring Viewing on Connected Devices and Outside the Home

Members of the complementary panel carry a portable people meter meter Measurement software installed on computers, smartphones or tablets of panellists in order to collect, with their consent, all of their surfing paths on computers, mobiles or tablets making it possible to produce the Internet audience measurement. Find out more throughout the day. This miniature device also relies on watermarking technology to identify television programmes through their audio signal.

Distinguishing Between In-Home and Out-of-Home Viewing

The system uses location beacons installed in participants' homes. The portable meter can detect these beacons, making it possible to determine accurately whether viewing is taking place inside or outside the home.

Measuring Connected Devices in the Home

Within the home, the portable meter only measures viewing on internet-connected devices such as computers, smartphones, and tablets.

When a television set is present, it is equipped with a dedicated meter so that TV viewing can be clearly distinguished from viewing on connected devices.

Data Data Digital data Find out more Processing Processing Means any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction Find out more and Analysis with Restit'TV

Every night at 3 a.m., all audience data collected throughout the day is automatically transmitted to Médiamétrie via a secure and environmentally responsible cloud cloud Cloud computing is an infrastructure in which computing power and storage are managed by remote servers which users connect to via a secure internet link. Find out more infrastructure.

The data from the two panels is then combined, processed, and statistically modelled by Médiamétrie's teams. The resulting data provides a unified view of television audiences across all locations, screens, and viewing modes.

For analysis purposes, Médiamat audience data can be broken down by programme, time slot, audience segment, device type, viewing behaviour, and consumption pattern.

These detailed insights are made available through the Restit'TV platform, enabling clients to make informed decisions, optimise their strategies, and gain a deeper understanding of audience behaviour.