© Rex Features
The new measurement system, called Live Plus 7, will work alongside traditional 'overnight' ratings to aggregate viewings of live recordings, narrative repeats, BBC iPlayer and high definition for seven days after transmission.
Live Plus 7 is designed to give a more accurate picture of viewing consumption of BBC programmes, as shows such as The Apprentice and Top Gear often gain healthy views on iPlayer and timeshift services, such as Sky+ and Freeview+.
Next year, the BBC will start publishing data from the Live Plus 7 system every month in a similar way to which it currently reveals BBC iPlayer usage.
"We know viewing habits are changing and we're changing with them. As our content becomes available in more ways than ever before, traditional methods of overnight measurement are now just one part of the picture," said BBC Vision director Jana Bennett.
"The new Live Plus 7 system will allow us to look at the total impact of a show and use this insight to continue creating the programmes our audiences want to see."
Using audience data from BARB, the BBC yesterday confirmed that BBC One has remained the most popular TV channel in the UK throughout 2010, attracting 44.6 million people each week in peak hours (6pm to 10.30pm), up from 44m last year.
The channel's audience share remained flat at 20.7% for all hours, but it is the only terrestrial network to have gone up in peak to 22.9%, with highlights including the live episode of EastEnders being watched by more than 20m people.
Across the BBC's TV services - BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC, CBeebies, BBC Parliament, The News Channel, Red Button and BBC HD Channel - the audience appreciation (AI) index increased by 0.5% year-on-year to a share of 33.1%. The channels now serve 85.5% of the UK population each week, up from 84.7% last year.
"It's been a strong year for BBC Television, with distinctive and uniquely BBC initiatives like the year of science, opera and poetry seasons and the launch of BBC One HD," said Bennett.
"We've seen truly ambitious and challenging moments like Five Daughters and Turn Back Time - The High Street, resulting in a portfolio performance that has bucked the trend and grown its AIs and audience share, whilst keeping public service broadcasting values at its heart."
Elsewhere, BBC Two reached 31.3m people every week throughout 2010, with a peak audience share of 7.8% for hit shows such as Wonders Of The Solar System, Miranda and Rev.
After being crowned non-terrestrial channel of the year at the Edinburgh Television Festival, BBC Three saw its share and reach grow during 2010, with the channel now serving 5.2m 16- to 34-year-olds each week, up from 4.8m in 2009. It had an audience share of 5%, up from 4.4% in 2009. Highlights on the channel included EastEnders: The Aftermath, which was watched by 4.5m, the best ever audience on a digital channel.
BBC Four's weekly audience increased to 8.5m, up from 7.2m in 2009, with a variety of well-received seasons, such as Fatherhood and Sea.
Elsewhere, BBC Parliament increased its weekly reach by 40% to 700,000, with a share of 1.2%. The BBC News Channel enjoyed a record year, with an average of 9.6m people tuning in each week, up by 24% year-on-year. A total of 7.4m adults watched Gordon Brown's resignation on the channel, while 7m tuned in to coverage of the day after the general election and 6.9m saw the Chilean miners being released.
Catch-up TV platform BBC iPlayer attracted a record 139 million requests last month, capping a year of strong growth across its on-demand TV and radio services. Popular BBC shows Top Gear, EastEnders and Doctor Who all attracted more than 1m views on the platform.
