Kantar Media wins UAE people meter TV ratings contract

The five-year deal sees Kantar provide ratings data to the Emirates Media Measurement Company, which counts major media firms including Abu Dhabi Media Company, Dubai Media Incorporated, Sharjah Media Corporation and regulatory authority the National Media Council (NMC) among its stakeholders.

Eight-hundred households across all seven key Emirates will have 5000 series PeopleMeters installed to automatically track their TV viewing habits minute-by-minute. Audio matching technology is used to identify which channels are watched.

In a statement, the NMC described the project as “a milestone for the media industry in the UAE”. In March it received official sanction from government ministers to pursue people meter technology as a replacement for the diary and CATI surveys previously used to monitor viewing habits.

Kantar Media’s global business development director Keld Nielsen (pictured) said tendering for the contract was “fiercely competitive”. Other bidders have not been named, but The Nielsen Company was expected to pitch for the work, having lobbied for the introduction of people meter-based TV measurement in the Emirates for the past several years.