Television Audience Measurement system - SG-TAM

How does the measurement system work?

A panel-based television audience measurement system is used to measure viewership in Singapore. Learn how the different aspects of forming and maintaining SG-TAM’s panel is key to delivering consistent reporting of data.

	1 ESTABLISHMENT SURVEY A door-to-door survey covering 10,000 Singapore households, known as the Establishment Survey (ES), was conducted for the initial recruitment of 1,200 panel households. Subsequently, the ES is conducted in quarterly waves throughout the year to capture emerging viewership trends and changes in socio-demographic profile. This ensures that the panel remains current and reflective of viewership preferences, and also provides a steady flow of eligible households to maintain the panel. The sample size for the annual ES is 5,000 households (1,250 households per quarter).
2 RECRUITMENT Eligible households are randomly selected and invited to join the SG-TAM panel. A nationally representative panel of 1,200 households forms the core television panel while 2,000 individuals (recruited as much as possible from the core 1,200 households) form the digital panel. The recruitment of the digital panel from the core television panel ensures an integrated single source approach.
	3 INSTALLATION For television audience measurement, a people meter is connected to panel households’ television sets. Each household member is assigned a designated button on a remote control to register their presence when they are watching television programmes. Additional buttons are available on the remote control for guests to register their viewership. For digital measurement, a software metering application is installed on PCs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. The software works passively to collect media and internet usage behavior.
4 PANEL MANAGEMENT A panel management team regularly engages the panel households to provide latest updates on SG-TAM, provide technical assistance, conduct regular training, and ensure compliance from the panel households. This ensures high quality and reliability of viewership data collected through SG-TAM.
	5 DATA PRODUCTION AND QUALITY Viewership is measured from the actual viewing behaviour of all members of the panel. All media viewing and internet usage data are aggregated and presented anonymously in the reports.

What does SG-TAM measure?

SG-TAM measures 24/7 viewership performance across free-to-air TV, cable TV, IPTV and online platforms. This includes up to 200 channels on televisions, PCs, laptops and mobile devices. Data from live viewing, time-shifted viewing and Video-on-Demand are captured as well.

Data can be further drilled down for analysis by channels, programmes, genres, platforms, demographics, times of the day and many more variables to deliver valuable market insights.

Industry

	Advertisers: Access to a single source, multi-platform television audience measurement allows advertisers to effectively plan better-targeted campaigns and achieve their ROIs.
	Broadcasters and distributors: Increased accessibility to timely viewership data allows them to acquire and schedule programmes that suit the viewers’ preferences.
	Content creators: A deeper understanding of viewers’ preferences and viewership trends enables the development and delivery of more tailored content to the viewers.

Consumers

	With SG-TAM, industry players are able to keep up with the changing lifestyles and viewing preferences of consumers. This will enable consumers to enjoy better quality and more engaging content at home and on-the-go.

Types of Viewership Data Available on SG-TAM

Full access software	Ad-hoc reports
Linear viewership	Non-linear viewership

For more information on subscription to SG-TAM, please contact us at SG-TAM@imda.gov.sg.

• What is SG-TAM?
  The Singapore Television Audience Measurement (SG-TAM) is the official source of television audience measurement in Singapore. Commissioned by the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA), GfK operates and manages the integrated television audience measurement system. It provides the viewership of television content, such as Free-To-Air TV and Pay TV channels, shown across traditional and digital platforms. SG-TAM aims to help media industry players keep pace with the trend of media convergence, growth of the digital broadcast sphere and evolving television consumption habits in Singapore.
  
  
• How does SG-TAM work?
  Find out more about how SG-TAM works here.
  
  
• What is the size of the panel?
  A nationally representative panel of 1,200 households forms the core television panel while 2,000 individuals (recruited as much as possible from the core 1,200 households) form the digital panel. The recruitment of the digital panel from the core television panel ensures an integrated single source approach.
  
  
• Can I apply to be part of the panel?
  No. All panel households are randomly selected based on the findings from the Establishment Survey. Panel controls are put in place to ensure that all households have an equal chance to be selected as a panel household and that the panel households are nationally representative at all times.
  
  
• What is the SG-TAM Establishment Survey (ES) and the sample size for the survey?
  The ES is conducted as part of the initial phase of panel recruitment. It is a door-to-door survey covering a representative sample of 10,000 Singapore households, where panel households (TV and digital panel) are drawn from. Eligible households are subsequently invited to participate on the SG-TAM panel.
  
  The ES is conducted in quarterly waves throughout the year to capture emerging viewership trends and changes in socio-demographic profile. This ensures that the panel remains current and reflective of viewership preferences, and also provides a steady flow of eligible households to maintain the panel. The sample size for the annual ES is 5,000 households (1,250 households per quarter).
  
  
• What is the data used for?
  With access to audience consumption data across a full range of media platforms, industry players such as content makers, media owners, advertisers and media planners will be better equipped to make decisions about the content that works best across different platforms and multiple devices. Singaporeans too can look forward to higher quality shows that engage and entertain them, and where such content can best reach them.
  
  
• How about data privacy?
  All data collected will be in strict compliance with the Personal Data Protection Act 2012. Participation is strictly on a voluntary basis when a household is randomly selected. GfK will never pass on this personal information to IMDA or any other parties. GfK will protect the confidentiality and integrity of information, including the personal particulars of the panel members. The data available to IMDA and the end users in the media industry will always be aggregated and it can never be used to identify the television consumption of a specific household or individual.
  
  
• Is Singapore the first country in the world to develop a national TAM system?
  No, many other countries have a national TAM system, e.g. BARB in the UK and OzTAM in Australia. However, they are primarily led by industry stakeholders such as broadcasters, research and advertising agencies, rather than the government. Singapore is the first country to develop a single-source, multi-platform TAM system that is commissioned by the government.
  
  
• How is SG-TAM similar or different as compared to other international standards of measurement?
  Many developed markets are experimenting with the measurement of online video content, and are beginning to add certain elements of such a measurement to traditional television ratings. The result is a hybrid television audience measurement service that is driven by the use of multiple panels for the various content platforms. In Singapore, the SG-TAM will measure different media and integrate the data obtained to provide cross-platform information on the Singapore market. The SG-TAM also takes into account Singapore’s unique and dynamic market, factoring in racial diversities, changing television consumption habits, high technological sophistication and device penetration rate.
  
  
• How many TV channels are reported in SG-TAM?
  Up to 200 Free-To-Air and Pay TV channels are reported in SG-TAM.
  
  
• How are the channels selected for SG-TAM?
  All channels that were reported by the previous TAM service will continue to be measured in SG-TAM. With the wider scope of coverage in SG-TAM, the TAM Review Committee (an industry panel comprising local and regional broadcasters, Pay-TV operators and advertising community) provided inputs for the inclusion of channels to make up the 200 channels measured in SG-TAM. The list of channels will be reviewed and updated periodically.
  
  
• How do broadcasters request for measurement of channels that are currently outside SG-TAM’s list?
  Subscribers of the SG-TAM service will be able to request for additional channels to be measured. Please contact us at SG-TAM@imda.gov.sg for more information.
  
  
• How do we get access to SG-TAM data?
  Please contact IMDA (SG-TAM@imda.gov.sg) for information on subscription to SG-TAM data.

For more information about SG-TAM, contact us at SG-TAM@imda.gov.sg.

GFK: A pivotal role in supporting SG-TAM

An established source of market data, GfK works closely with IMDA using innovative technologies for a comprehensive analysis of the television audience. Combining market research and data science expertise, GfK delivers deep insights with local market intelligence to support IMDA in the implementation of SG-TAM.