Television audience measurement : an ongoing process

Abstract

Various countries have long since realised the need to establish detailed information about television audience size and structure, and about audience use of it. As the need grew, companies emerged, experimenting and developing new systems and methodologies to measure the consumption of television as a fast developing medium. Malta appears to have moved beyond the days when television was a relatively neat and simple structured business, with a limited number of channels and limited programme offerings for viewers. Yet little has been done to establish regular and accurate systems of television audience measurement. This study, introduces locally a measurement instrument: weekly diaries to measure television audience. Results achieved from this study are promising and confirm that alternatives to recall research can be applied in this emerging area of study ..... even in Malta.