YouTube viewing starting to be tracked on television by Barb
Barb, the UK's television audience measurement body, has announced a significant expansion of its reporting to include TV viewing of select YouTube channels. This makes Barb the first joint-industry committee worldwide to measure viewing figures for specific YouTube channels on TV sets.
The new initiative tracks 200 of the most-watched YouTube channels across various genres using audio-matching automatic content recognition (ACR) technology combined with Wi-Fi router data from Barb panel homes. The selected channels were chosen based on viewing volumes and adherence to brand safety standards.
Popular channels such as Peppa Pig, Bluey, and MrBeast are included in the regular reporting. Peppa Pig leads the list with a 0.06 percent share of total viewing on TV sets. Other notable channels include Bluey and MrBeast, with Bluey ranking higher than MrBeast in TV-set viewing.
The new YouTube channel data is presented in a weekly report available in Barb’s client portal, showing metrics such as weekly reach, share of viewing on TV sets, total minutes watched, and demographic profiles of viewers by age and sex. This expansion reflects the growing importance of YouTube as a source of video consumption on TV, which accounted for 14 percent of total video viewing in the UK in 2024.
Barb's reporting techniques, which have been used for many years to report audiences for linear channels and streaming services, are being applied to YouTube channels. The new reporting will start to answer questions across the advertising, programming, and regulatory parts of the industry regarding YouTube viewing.
Barb's client portal includes the weekly reach for each of the 200 YouTube channels, as well as the share of total identified viewing on TV sets for each channel. The new reporting will provide insights into YouTube viewing that are relevant to the advertising, programming, and regulatory sectors of the industry.
This is the first TV joint-industry measurement system in the world to incorporate viewing on YouTube channels. Barb is working with Kantar Media on this initiative. The new reporting from Barb will provide fresh, independent insights into what people watch on YouTube, complementing its existing reports for broadcasters and streaming services.
In addition, Barb is expanding its reporting to include audiences for Beyond-TV-On-Demand (BVoD) services, such as YouTube channels. This move underscores Barb's commitment to staying at the forefront of audience measurement in the rapidly evolving media landscape.
In summary, Barb now provides specific measurement of TV-based viewing to 200 major YouTube channels spanning genres like kids’ entertainment, sports, and news. The new reporting from Barb will provide valuable insights for the advertising, programming, and regulatory sectors, as YouTube continues to grow in importance as a source of video consumption on TV.
The new reporting from Barb, through the integration of audio-matching automatic content recognition (ACR) technology and Wi-Fi router data, will measure the viewing figures for 200 YouTube channels across genres such as kids' entertainment, sports, and general-news, making it the first joint-industry committee worldwide to do so. As a result, popular channels like Peppa Pig, Bluey, and MrBeast will now be tracked regularly.
In the weekly report available on Barb's client portal, metrics such as weekly reach, share of viewing on TV sets, total minutes watched, and demographic profiles of viewers by age and sex will be presented for each of the 200 YouTube channels, offering insights that are relevant to the advertising, programming, and regulatory sectors of the industry.
