Advertisment pre-production research.

The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) is the organisation that gathers audience measurement and television ratings in the United Kingdom. This replaced the Joint Industry Committee For TV Advertising Research (JICTAR). BARB is owned by several companies, including the BBC, ITV, Sky, and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising who gather their own ratings who gather their own ratings by use of a box on the top of participating TVs. This tracks the programs viewers watch, which is in currently 5,100 homes and involving 11,500 people in total. the advantage of this is that it allows these companies to know what X person is watching, so it should help make it easier to work on the placement of advertisements and even newer shows.

Television content ratings systems allow viewers to get an idea of how suitable a TV program is for different groups, namely children and adults. This is done by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) which gives films (And to an extent, TV) a classification based on content. This can effect what channel(s) it appears on and what time slots, which in turn links with the watershed, which essentially makes it so on most channels after a certain time, usually 9pm, the content ends up being more mature. If the public notices any unsuitable content they often complain to the Office Of Communications (Ofcom). 

These can Many countries have different rating systems in which each will differ depending on key events in the area. Programs are usually rated by one of the following: The organisation that manages the system, the broadcasting channel, or even by the producers of the content watched themselves. A rating is usually set for each different episode dependant on what occurs in the episodes, the different network due to some of the editing, how old it is does affect it to a degree when it comes to reruns since people can get over the events that had occurred or become more mature, and even some episodes can be considered normal for one country, but too crude for a different country. This demonstrates how difficult it is to rate a program without considering the context.

 

Face-to-face interviews are quite literally, going to someone, asking them a few questions, either on the spot, or in private, and then leave. Focus groups are essentially the same, but you do so as a group, each person giving their own opinions on the subject, and possibly their counter argument. Questionnaires are a more optional version of the two mentioned, since they are asked a list of questions, which they then can answer in their own time, or not even answer at all if they desired not to.

Program profiles are essentially a link to the Television Content rating system, in the fact it shows who sees  what program, and at what time period is it more likely to be seen. In addition, here is a small list of Television research agencies. Touchstone research. Inc is an example of this. A rate card contains prices and descriptions of different advertisement placement options available from media outlets for example places that sell Equipment, Locations, or even parts. most buyers are capable of paying significantly less by, for example,  if they buy in bulk or if the location is not the most popular.

The Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) is a way of classifying people into different groups from their profession, so that they can be targeted by advertisement specifically tailored for them. A demographic is a group that makes up the population, these can include Gender, Age, Hobbies, Ethnicity, Disabilities and Mobility, as well as Home ownership and also employment status.

Psycographics is similar to demographics, except it is more based on personality than just a rough generalisation. These can also include what we think, how we react, what we like and dislike, and how we live.This research is also known as IAO variables (Interests, Activities and Opinions). They can be contrasted with demographic variables, behavioural variables (which can include loyalty to a brand), and organisational variables (which can include type of industry and size of workforce.)

Geo-demographics is more based on location, as in how the area is set out, what shops or key locations are where and so forth. This also profiles people based on where they live, while estimating the characteristics of people based on information of shopping characteristics typical of people in the area.