By Lisa Squillace, National Sales Director, Network 10.
VOZ, or Virtual Australia, is the talk of the media industry right now. OK, maybe not the entire industry, but certainly the TV business. There’s been a lot of chatter and a lot of presentations, but what is VOZ, what does it mean for you and why should you care? Read on.
What is VOZ?:
It’s a new dataset that combines the independent, world-class OzTAM and Regional TAM TV ratings with all the viewing on the broadcaster video on demand (BVOD) sites, like 10 Play. It means that for the very first time, you’ll have access to a national picture of total TV viewing, across broadcast and BVOD, in one place – giving you a much better idea of how people are watching TV content. This is a world-leading development in measuring audience and will lead to a big change in how we all look at and analyse TV viewing.
What does it mean for you?:
You’ll be able to use the VOZ data to better plan campaigns across multiple screens. Rather than estimating what the optimal split of TV and BVOD should be for a particular demographic, VOZ will tell you the exact number. Rather than adding a TV and a BVOD audience together manually, VOZ will provide total, unduplicated audience data across every platform. It’s people-based, not device-based, and covers every single TV channel and every single BVOD platform nationally.
Take MasterChef Australia. With VOZ, you’ll see data on everyone that saw your integration, no matter the time of viewing or the device used. If you buy a sponsorship of The Bachelor Australia on broadcast and 10 Play, you’ll be able to see the total reach across both platforms. It means your client’s spend will work harder and smarter across TV and BVOD. If you buy a national TV campaign in the Australian Formula One, you’ll be able to see the audience in Sydney as easily as the audience in Cairns, all in one dataset. VOZ will make your life easier, with every TV and BVOD number you need in one place.
What happens to the regular TV ratings?:
Nothing. The existing TV ratings currency will remain in place and will continue to roll in at 9am every morning. VOZ will be an additional dataset for use in planning and evaluating campaigns. As an industry, we’re working on ways to integrate VOZ into any industry-wide buying platforms.
How do you get VOZ data?:
If you currently receive the OzTAM and Regional TAM ratings data, your agency will also receive the VOZ database. OzTAM is working with the industry software providers to ensure that VOZ can be analysed in existing TV ratings software like eTAM.
