NEWS RELEASE

29 July 2011

SAARF TAMS updates to new universe this August

August 2011 sees the release of the updated household universe for SAARF TAMS®, a universe which for the first time includes TopTV households.

The new universe, which will be released on 1 August, 2011, is a response to changes seen in the TV-viewing universe in the last AMPS release, AMPS Dec 10 (Jan–Dec 2010). While at first glance the new figures may not appear that much higher – from 10650617 up to 10689640 – the new TAMS universe is in fact significantly bigger considering it no longer includes PVR households.

“In the last universe, we included over 356000 PVR households, which contributed to viewing data for satellite TV,” says Dr Tiffany Tracey, SAARF’s senior technical support executive. “When we tried to include PVR data together with the universe update, the changes were too great. The TAMS Council therefore, made a decision to remove PVR households from the universe until we can determine exactly how PVR viewing behaviour affects the TAMS data.”

Tracey explains that the new universehas therefore grown by over 397000 households, due to factors such as more TV sets in rural areas, with growth particularly in the Eastern Cape and in LSM 1-4.

The new universe update also includes TopTV households for the first time. The new satellite operator’s data will only be released as a collective figure however. “The TopTV base is still too small to allow for the release of viewing data for separate channels,” says Tracey.

The following tables show the differences between the current TAMS® adult universe (2010A) and the universe that will be implemented in August 2011 (2010B).

Current TAMS universe / TAMS universe for August 2011
AMPS 2010A (6 months) – TAMS universe (all adults 15+) / AMPS 2010B (6 months) – TAMS universe(all adults 15+)
*Includes individuals with PVR in home / *Excludes individuals with PVR in home
Total / Satellite / Non-Satellite / Total / Satellite / Non-Satellite
Females Afr/Both / 2348479 / 737947 / 1610532 / 2 277 518 / 677 073 / 1 600 445
Males Afr/Both / 2247758 / 832322 / 1415436 / 2 095 314 / 656 493 / 1 438 821
Females Eng/Other / 1783867 / 754159 / 1029708 / 1 577 982 / 732 276 / 845 706
Males Eng/Other / 1625307 / 733502 / 891805 / 1 500 476 / 703 816 / 796 660
Females Nguni / 5502777 / 890801 / 4611976 / 5 917 231 / 1 161 911 / 4 755 320
Males Nguni / 5163840 / 981463 / 4182377 / 5 193 608 / 1 103 354 / 4 090 254
Females Sotho / 4949272 / 797998 / 4151274 / 4 987 963 / 949 882 / 4 038 081
Males Sotho / 4378967 / 734263 / 3644704 / 4 441 861 / 840 765 / 3 601 096
28 000 267 / 6 462 455 / 21 537 812 / 27 991 953 / 6 825 570 / 21 166 383
LSM 1-4 / 5 036 844 / 27 532 / 5 009 312 / 5 497 792 / 30 759 / 5 467 033
LSM 5-7 / 15 136 806 / 2 035 185 / 13 101 621 / 15 357 051 / 2 549 346 / 12 807 705
LSM 8-10 / 7 826 616 / 4 399 738 / 3 426 878 / 7 137 110 / 4 245 465 / 2 891 645
28 000 266 / 6 462 455 / 21 537 811 / 27 991 953 / 6 825 570 / 21 166 383
Current TAMS universe / TAMS universe for August 2011
AMPS 2010A (6 months) – TAMS universe(all adults 15+) / AMPS 2010B (6 months) – TAMS universe(all adults 15+)
*Includes individuals with PVR in home / *Excludes individuals with PVR in home
Total / Satellite / Non-Satellite / Total / Satellite / Non-Satellite
Western Cape / 3340860 / 679794 / 2661066 / 3 327 233 / 674 137 / 2 653 096
Northern Cape / 541535 / 91549 / 449986 / 537 174 / 87 710 / 449 464
Free State / 1943251 / 338785 / 1604466 / 1 918 248 / 425 398 / 1 492 850
Eastern Cape / 3204846 / 558366 / 2646480 / 3 416 980 / 544 941 / 2 872 039
KwaZulu-Natal / 5157005 / 1322301 / 3834704 / 5 216 668 / 1 513 929 / 3 702 739
Mpumalanga / 1935055 / 468111 / 1466944 / 1 982 017 / 477 244 / 1 504 773
Limpopo / 3217220 / 476871 / 2740349 / 3 257 760 / 543 882 / 2 713 878
Gauteng / 6407619 / 2203216 / 4204403 / 6 069 815 / 2 166 984 / 3 902 831
NorthWest / 2252875 / 323463 / 1929412 / 2 266 058 / 391 345 / 1 874 713
28 000 266 / 6 462 456 / 21 537 810 / 27 991 953 / 6 825 570 / 21 166 383
Thousands difference between current and August 2011 universe / Percentage change between current and August 2011 universe
Total / Satellite / Non-Satellite / Total / Satellite / Non-Satellite
Females Afr/Both / -70 961 / -60 874 / -10 087 / -3 / -8 / -1
Males Afr/Both / -152 444 / -175 829 / 23 385 / -7 / -21 / 2
Females Eng/Other / -205 885 / -21 883 / -184 002 / -12 / -3 / -18
Males Eng/Other / -124 831 / -29 686 / -95 145 / -8 / -4 / -11
Females Nguni / 414 454 / 271 110 / 143 344 / 8 / 30 / 3
Males Nguni / 29 768 / 121 891 / -92 123 / 1 / 12 / -2
Females Sotho / 38 691 / 151 884 / -113 193 / 1 / 19 / -3
Males Sotho / 62 894 / 106 502 / -43 608 / 1 / 15 / -1
-8 314 / 363 115 / -371 429 / 0 / 6 / -2
LSM 1-4 / 460 948 / 3 227 / 457 721 / 9 / 12 / 9
LSM 5-7 / 220 245 / 514 161 / -293 916 / 1 / 25 / -2
LSM 8-10 / -689 506 / -154 273 / -535 233 / -9 / -4 / -16
-8 313 / 363 115 / -371 428 / 0 / 6 / -2
Western Cape / -13 627 / -5 657 / -7 970 / 0 / -1 / 0
Northern Cape / -4 361 / -3 839 / -522 / -1 / -4 / 0
Free State / -25 003 / 86 613 / -111 616 / -1 / 26 / -7
Eastern Cape / 212 134 / -13 425 / 225 559 / 7 / -2 / 9
KwaZulu-Natal / 59 663 / 191 628 / -131 965 / 1 / 14 / -3
Mpumalanga / 46 962 / 9 133 / 37 829 / 2 / 2 / 3
Limpopo / 40 540 / 67 011 / -26 471 / 1 / 14 / -1
Gauteng / -337 804 / -36 232 / -301 572 / -5 / -2 / -7
North West / 13 183 / 67 882 / -54 699 / 1 / 21 / -3
-8 313 / 363 114 / -371 427 / 0 / 6 / -2

WHY MUST SAARF UPDATE THE TAMS UNIVERSE?

The TAMS® universe is made up of all households, both rural and urban, with mains electricity and at least one working TV set. TAMS® measures all platforms: both analogue and digital, and both terrestrial and satellite. Personal viewing data is captured by the TAMS® meter for all household members aged four and older, and includes all guests in the home. Domestic workers are also included in the TAMS® universe but are treated as separate households.

Like all TAMS panels worldwide, SAARF TAMS® uses an establishment survey to estimate the size of the television universe, which will set the parameters of the sample. In South Africa,TAMS® uses the All Media and Products Survey (AMPS®) for this purpose. The TAMS® universe is therefore adjusted every six months as each new AMPS®is released (normally in January and August each year).

An establishment survey is the only way to correctly reflect the relative sizes of all the different TV platforms at a given moment in time. Amongst other things, SAARF also needs to know how many TVs, satellite decoders and so on people have, in order to measure TV accurately. This information is sourced from AMPS®.

Updating the universe regularly ensures that the TAMS® data remains up todate with changes happening in the TV arena, changes which are brought about by the constant addition of new households to the TV-viewing population, the advent of new pay-TV providers and the inexorable move to Pay TV.

ends