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Rupert Murdoch’s Foxtel may have inadvertently overstated audiences on key sports matches by as much as 40 per cent, an issue that has forced TV ratings provider OzTAM to rapidly update the way it measures the pay TV and streaming company’s data.
Foxtel has fought claims of miscalculations since the first round of the NRL, when OzTAM chief executive Doug Peiffer contacted the group over concerns it may have overstated how many people watched the season’s openers. Foxtel has not issued a release about the NRL or AFL matches since the first round.
The duplication is largely to do with an issue with OzTAM’s subscription TV panel. Credit:Mark Metcalfe
The issue, according to media sources, is with the panels OzTAM uses to measure Foxtel not being updated quickly enough to account for the rapid growth of its streaming services, including Kayo Sports, and new products such as the IQ5.
OzTAM tracks people watching subscription television through 2120 homes in metropolitan and regional Australia. The panel tracks the consumption of popular shows such as The Last of Us and The White Lotus, or the first round of the NRL, on a Foxtel IQ box, online video service Foxtel Now or Kayo Sports. A separate measurement system – VPM – also tracks Foxtel’s audiences on Kayo Sports and Binge. Foxtel also uses internal data to measure streaming consumption.
A combination of these factors means Foxtel’s audiences on sports and entertainment programs such as AFL and NRL matches are dramatically inflated in some instances.
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The sources, who requested anonymity to speak freely, said Foxtel was told its audiences may be overstated by between 30 per cent and 40 per cent. They said Foxtel and OzTAM are now working rapidly to improve the methodology and ensure the audience figures are more accurate.
Foxtel is privately disputing the claims of widespread inflation and argues duplication is occurring across commercial television networks that are also tracked by OzTAM. Television sources say this duplication is minimal, and they do not trade on these figures.
The situation with OzTAM is complicated by the fact that it is owned by the television networks, Nine Entertainment (the owner of this masthead), Seven West Media and Network 10, which compete against Foxtel for audiences and advertising revenue. OzTAM and Foxtel declined to comment.