Kantar Media’s TNS is working on the project for Barb, which is currently recruiting for a trial panel of 75 homes. Each computer in every home will be fitted with a ‘virtual meter’, which will track viewings and allow viewers to register when they are watching audiovisual content.

A spokesman for Barb said the UK was the first country to actively field-test this device.

The purpose of the panel is to test the meter in real-life situations, as well as to understand any technical issues or factors which could emerge from the use of the technique and, ultimately, whether it could be used as part of the main Barb panel.

The ‘virtual meter’ replicates the actual set-top meter that is used by Barb’s in-home viewing panel of 5,100 homes.

Barb has tracked the claimed level of use of on-line services that allow viewers to watch programmes via PCs or laptops since 2005, through twice-yearly surveys, but it has not used a meter in this way before.

Over this period, there was significant growth in the proportions of adults viewing via PCs and by November 2009, 27% of adults claimed to have watched TV via the internet at some time, with 40% of those aged between 15 and 34, claiming to do so.

This article was first published on mediaweek.co.uk