This sees the completion of Phase 3 of its TAMS DStv reporting programme, which SAARF began in 2001 when it first began to read satellite television. The SAARF TAMS System is one of the few in the world which measures digital satellite television.
The SAARF TAMS Council was satisfied that the data for individual satellite channels was stable, sensitive and reliable enough to be released to the market.
Data for most of the commercial channels is robust, except for Summit, CSN, and Bop. These three channels do not have bases of 50 respondents or above, which is the recommended minimum base approved by the Council. Their data is therefore not robust, and should not be used for demographic profiling.
On the whole, satellite weekly patronage is around 90%, with gross ratings by quarter hours recorded at between 400 and 500 ratings per day.
The Top Five satellite channels, as viewed by adults in Week 12, were Movie Magic, with 68% patronage, Digital M-Net (65% patronage), Movie Magic 2 (62%), SuperSport 2 (55%), and SuperSport (54%). New reality show Idols has come in at number 10, with 47% patronage.
ACNielsen Media International reports that Eurometers are now installed in 1 550 households, with 1 173 households reporting during week 14 (8-14 April).
The DStv panel now consists of 340 households, with over 250 reporting weekly, a number which is growing rapidly since the low reporting period in December. It is becoming evident that it is virtually impossible to maintain reporting household levels over December and January of each year, but that these levels soon return to normal after the holiday period is over.
To date, 314 households have had display probes installed in their DStv decoders, which enables the TAMS meters to pick out the individual satellite channels.
With the release of AMPS 2001B, which is the establishment survey for TAMS, it was decided by the TAMS Council to update the TAMS income classifications so that they are in line with the latest AMPS.
The so-called low-income cell is now pegged as zero up to R1 599, the medium cell at R1 600-7 999, and high at more than R8 000 per month.
