These Global Guidelines are available from EBU Publications Service, Case Postale 67, CH–1218 Grand Saconnex, Geneva, Switzerland (Tel: +41 22 717 2111, fax: +41 22 717 2200) at a cost per copy of 50 Swiss Francs (CHF 50). Discounts available for large orders.

The ARM Group is a joint international industry body, working towards the understanding and improvement of TV and radio audience measurement on a worldwide basis. During this decade, the ARM Group has published a number of documents on specific methodological issues.^*

The purpose of the Global Guidelines for Television Measurement (GGTAM) is twofold:

1. First, the Guidelines aim to identify the key principles of good research practices and to explain the methods by which the goals of valid, reliable, complete, and useful television audience measurement can be achieved. We hope that they will be useful to all those striving for quality audience measurement –broadcasters, advertisers, and the TV viewing public. However, we think GGTAM may be particularly useful to those in the process of establishing, improving, or changing systems of television audience measurement around the world.
2. The second purpose of the documents is to encourage harmonization in methods and reporting standards and to provide recommendations on how such harmonization can be achieved. We fully acknowledge that each country’s measurement system needs to serve the needs of that market first. At the same time, we believe that the growth in international broadcasting and commerce benefits all markets and that harmonization will extend those benefits.

The call for increased efforts at harmonization goes to all parties around the world. We suggest that those who have established systems consider systematic, continuous improvement of methodologies and increased data access and flexibility in reporting systems. Those who are establishing or changing systems are urged to consider building systems which facilitate comparisons with markets which engage in the best methodological and reporting practices.

Agreement about the need to apply principles of good research practice in order to achieve quality audience measurement is the foundation of these Guidelines.

• High quality television audience measurement is critical for three main reasons. Viewing data are tools for programme and schedule planning, they are the "currency" for the trading of commercial airtime, and they are an accountability measure for public funding. Good television audience data are essential for understanding the medium, improving it and for doing business.
• Despite the rapid changes in technology, in society and in the media, we think that there are universal principles of quality measurement. Television audience data need to be valid, reliable, complete and useful.

• How these goals can best be achieved changes with technological advances, differs from country to country and continues to evolve as the media are constantly changing.

For example, technological developments have made the peoplemeter possible – a technique providing data superior to other methods of measuring the public’s viewing behaviour. The Guidelines provide operational recommendations principally for peoplemeter systems that have become the worldwide de facto standard for TV audience measurement.

However, differing local conditions can require different solutions. For example, some countries find that establishment surveys are the best way to achieve a quality sample while others achieve that goal in a different manner. The size of the market often affects the amount of money available for the measurement system. That has implications for sample size, data accuracy, etc. The Guidelines provide detailed discussions of alternative resolutions to these methodological matters in different countries, and of varying points of view amongst practitioners.

• Validity, reliability, completeness, and utility in measurement are goals that are difficult to achieve. Ideal theoretical standards can clash with practical needs and financial considerations. One solution to this dilemma is to implement research methods and organizational processes through informed, scientifically-based and principled consensus designed to respect all stakeholders and the core issues.
• Research practices which promote these goals include: scientific method, quality control, optimal resource allocation, and methodological experimentation. Organizational processes which enhance the likelihood of quality data and reporting systems include: effective industry consultation, full disclosure of methods and procedures, and equal access to the data.

How a measurement system is organized, controlled and funded has a decisive impact on the quality of the data with regard to all aspects – from validity to utility. Most countries have concluded that all sectors of the industry should be consulted about and involved in the design and management of the system to ensure that it is independent and customer-led in its priorities. Each market needs to determine what precise organizational arrangement best fulfills this objective within the laws governing the nation or market community – a continuum ranging from the joint industry committee ("JIC") that inherently ensures that the interests of all users of the system are represented, to a media owner committee, to a particular supplier’s own service.

Measuring television audiences is a very complex research enterprise. GGTAM discusses the organizational issues, data collection and reporting procedures in detail.

• The key issues in data collection involve the design of the sample, panel management, quality control, editing rules, validation procedures and the definition of "viewing" and response rate calculations.
• Data reporting issues include the amount of detail being reported (demographic groups, time segments, etc.), conditions of data access and so forth.
• The report recommends specific steps in both data collection and in data reporting which would help progress towards international harmonization of television audience data.

The ARM Group’s publications are designed to stimulate innovation and improvement in audience measurement systems around the world. This summary has outlined the principles of quality measurement and research organization, as well as the advantages of harmonization in data collection and flexibility in reporting. It provides an introduction to GGTAM itself and a brief overview for those who are interested in measurement of television audiences.

The Guidelines provide detailed information, both for those who are interested in these topics from a theoretical point of view and for practitioners who are considering changes to a system or are building new systems. GGTAM discusses how best to reconcile the goals of quality research and harmonization. On a number of issues, there are different approaches employed around the world and expert opinion differs – sometimes on the procedural details, occasionally on the fundamentals. GGTAM attempts to explain the reasons for such differences of opinion and to provide representation of different point of views in a complete and fair manner.