New BBC system reveals higher TV ratings

Shows such as Come Fly With Me and Top Gear attract millions more viewers than just their linear TV broadcasts, a new BBC audience measurement system has revealed.

The BBC today unveiled the first two months of data from the Live +7 measurement system, introduced last November to work alongside traditional 'overnight' ratings.

Live +7 is designed to give a more accurate picture of viewing consumption of BBC shows by aggregating live recordings, narrative repeats, BBC iPlayer and HD viewing for seven days after transmission.

The figures, which will be published monthly, show that some BBC programmes actually gain a much larger audience than overnight figures would suggest.

Under the new system, an episode of airport comedy Come Fly With Me aired on BBC One on January 1 actually received a total audience of 10.1 million, up 40% on overnight figures.

Top Gear's transmission on BBC Two on January 30 grabbed 10.6m on all platforms, up 97% on overnight data, while BBC Three's How To Live With Women had a total audience of 1.35m on February 28, up a massive 387% on TV viewing stats.

David Bunker, head of audience research at BBC Vision, said: "The new Live +7 measure is very important to us as it helps us to see the total audience watching a show.

"Whilst these figures do not represent a replacement for the overnight information, it will be a very useful additional piece of data."

George Entwistle, acting director of BBC Vision, added: "While audience volume is only one piece of the jigsaw that makes up how we determine the value of a programme it is important that we are able to measure its true size. Live +7 allows us to do just that.

"By combining quality metrics with the Live +7 data we will be able to form a pretty accurate picture of how a programme has been received by its audience."

Stuart Murphy, Sky's director of programmes for Sky1 and Sky Atlantic, wrote a blog post last week highlighting the growing importance of "consolidated" viewing figures.

Murphy pointed to the series premiere of new drama Mad Dogs, which gained 817,000 viewers on Sky1, but that increased to around 2.2m over the seven-day period after transmission.

"At Sky, we've long since dispensed with the overnights as a measure of how well we're meeting the demand of our viewers, although for some in the free-to-air world or some commentators it remains a preoccupation," said Murphy.

"Our view is that we've given our customers the opportunity to define their own schedules, and we therefore need to have measurement models which properly reflect the changing behaviours of our customers. We don't want to be in a position where viewers are one step ahead of the rest of us."