Industry Board to be formed for UAE TV Audience Measurement System 'tview'

Abu Dhabi, Dec 18, 2012 (WAM) - An advisory group including representatives of broadcast, advertising and agencies is to be formed to help monitor the UAE's television ratings system, ‘tview'. The Board of Emirates Media Measurement Company (EMMC), operators of tview, announced the decision this week following a period of consultation with the wider industry. The Industry Board will have an independent role to review, supervise and make decisions related to the technical and operational issues involved in running the service. The ultimate goal is to ensure that the system operates within established global industry standards. Invitations will be made to advertisers and agencies. The advertisers to be invited will include a representative of the Advertisers' Business Group, along with Emirates airline and others to be named. Welcoming the move, Boutros Boutros, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications for Emirates said: "This initiative is long overdue. We are extremely pleased to see the TV advertising industry move towards greater transparency and we hope that other media such as print will follow with independent, credible figures." An independent technical consultant will provide the group with expert advice on international best practice. Christopher O'Hearn, EMMC General Manager said "This ensures a fully accountable and transparent system. The shareholders are giving the industry board wide authority over issues such as auditing, security, methodology and overall quality in line with their commitment to bringing global-standard audience measurement to this region." The shareholder and broadcaster representatives will include Abu Dhabi Media, Rotana Media, Etisalat and Sharjah Media. O'Hearn added: "At this point the agencies have not committed to taking part in the group, despite our best efforts to include them. The proposal to form the group came from the agencies. We remain open to them following through on this opportunity to serve the best interests of their clients by engaging with the system and using accurate and reliable figures." - Emirates News Agency, WAM