Research firms combine forces in effort to beef up TV ratings data

The two market researchers last week joined together to offer a joint product that will allow clients purchasing electronic television ratings from AGB to also receive consumer data from SMG/KRC.
The combination had some data clients cheering. ŇIt's a revolution on the market,O said Jakub Bierzy[ski, general manager of media house Optimum Media. ŇIt's the first time such a service is offered on such a scale in Poland.O
Until the end of the summer the new package will be offered for free to those who already do data shopping through AGB's television ratings and SMG/KRC's Target Group Index (TGI).
ŇIn the fall the price will jump a little bit, but the increase will still be really marginal,O said Bernard Fruga, AGB's key account manger.
Currently AGB's clients, which include all major ad agencies and television stations except for public broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP), have to pay $40,000-$80,000 annually to get daily, minute-by-minute television ratings. Under the new offer, these clients will receive for the same price additional data specifying consumer behavior patterns for each of the 3,000 adults who are covered through AGB's electronic measurement system.
ŇIt is a breakthrough,O Bierzy[ski said. ŇNow instead of first defining the target group for a given product and then trying to figure out on the basis of very general criteria what kind of shows our target consumers might be watching, we actually get precise measurements concerning specific groups of consumers watching specific television shows.O
He added that by being able to define viewers in this way, ad agencies and media planners could save 20-30% of their media budgets.
ŇWe'll be able to hit the target, instead of shooting around it,O Bierzy[ski said.
To obtain its new Target Group Ratings (TGRs), AGB paired all adult members of its 1,215-household sample group with their counterparts taken from the SMG/KRC's TGI research. The pairs were put together on the basis of corresponding sociographical features, combining not only the same sex or age but also similar spending patters and consumer preferences.
As a result, the two companies are jointly offering the new product, on the basis of which advertisers will be able to more effectively plan their television media spending, said AGB's Fruga.
ŇThis way we do not look at television programs that could potentially be watched by potential consumers of a given product,O Bierzy[ski said. ŇThis way we actually look at very specific television shows that are indeed watched by specific consumers buying specific products.O
AGB is hoping that the new service will give it firepower in its ongoing battle with rival television ratings provider Oćrodek Badania Opinii Publicznej (OBOP).