Civolution to provide watermarking technology to BARC

Recently, BARC appointed Mediametrie as its technology partner. Together, Civolution and Mediametrie will build the technology framework for BARC.

Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) has chosen Civolution, provider of technology and solutions for identifying, managing and monetising content, for its watermarking technology.

Recall that last month BARC selected
Mediametrie
as its technology partner. Together, Civolution and Mediametrie will build the technology framework for BARC's audience measurement solution.

BARC addresses a population of over one billion, of which over 600 million have access to television in some form. This will be the first fully digital audience measurement system employed directly by the Indian broadcast industry and is scheduled to commence operations towards the end of this year.

Partho Dasgupta, CEO, BARC says, "India has one of the largest TV audiences in the world so it was critical for us to create an audience measurement system that is gold standard. By leveraging Civolution and Mediametrie's expertise in audience tracking, technology and analytics we can now study viewers' TV habits in precise detail, enabling broadcasters and advertisers to implement efficient strategies to reach their target audience."

Civolution's audio watermark is embedded in the TV's sound track prior to broadcast. Upon airing, the content is identified by Mediametrie's TV meter, in real-time. In addition to granular measurement of the content being watched, the solution also features support for catch-up TV.

The technology provides cross-platform audience measurement and will enable mobile device measurement, triggering the creation of new services and the reduction of operating costs. Moreover, the same watermark infrastructure deployed by Indian broadcasters could be used to accurately synchronise their own interactive second screen applications.

"With so many new ways of watching TV content in this multi-screen universe, precise audience measurement has become increasingly complex. Audience measurement services must now report more accurately and reliably, from a larger number of channels, delivered through a fast-changing and diverse mix of broadcast platforms, and consumed either in real time or time-shifted", Alex Terpstra, CEO, Civolution says.

"Through our close collaboration with Mediametrie, we have devised a powerful solution that provides accurate and reliable audience data that will allow BARC to help broadcasters plan, entertain and monetise," Jean Michel Masson, SVP, Watermarking Solutions, Civolution adds.