Appreciation Index

An Appreciation Index (AI) is a score between 0 and 100 which is used as an indicator of the public's approval for a particular television programme or broadcast service in the United Kingdom. Until 2002, the "AI" of a programme was calculated by BARB, the organisation that also compiles television ratings for the major broadcasters and advertisers in the UK. As of January 2008, the BBC carries out its own "AI" research.cite news | url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/01/11/nmed211.xml | title=No one knows if anybody's watching | publisher=The Telegraph | date=2002-01-11 | accessdate=2008-01-09]

Whereas regular ratings information can be calculated overnight, the "AI" of a programme can take up to two weeks to calculate, and is therefore not given the same prominence by the television industry in the UK.cite web | url=http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/thirdprogramme/ratings.php | title=Street Cred | author= Ian Beaumont | publisher=Transdiffusion Broadcasting System | date=2004-01-01 | accessdate=2008-01-08] However, the "AI" can be useful in assessing the public's attitudes to programmes made for small or specialist audiences, especially in cases where ratings information on its own may be unreliable.cite web | url=http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/itc/itc_publications/itc_notes/view_note66.html | title=ITC Notes | publisher=Ofcom | accessdate=2008-01-08] If a television programme has performed passably in the ratings, yet achieves a high "AI", it can help to determine whether the programme should be recommissioned.

The average "AI" for a drama programme on UK television channels BBC One and ITV1 is 77. A score of 85 or more is considered excellent, while a score of 60 or below is considered poor. [cite news | url=http://www.gallifreyone.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?id=EEyZFpAVVZMiNqFtcI&tmpl=newsrss | title="Runaway Bride" AI Figure | publisher=Outpost Gallifrey | date=2006-12-28 | accessdate=2008-01-09] Sometimes a programme will not garner an "AI", as the response for that programme may have been too small. Nor is the "AI" a conclusive measure; while it is valuable for comparisons within a particular programme category, comparisons between the "AI"s of different programme types (e.g. dramas with quiz shows) carry no weight.cite web | url=http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:-KodMNsQ5EcJ:www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/forms/audience_research.doc+%22appreciation+index%22+television&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=uk | title=Audience research team glossary of terms | publisher=BBC | accessdate=2008-01-08]

History

In 1936, the BBC began conducting surveys of its radio and television audiences. The intention was not to count the number of listeners or viewers, but to gauge opinion on the programmes themselves. The BBC used volunteers, who kept diaries of their listening and viewing habits, submitting them to the corporation periodically. From these, the first "Appreciation Indexes" were calculated and privately made known to the programme-makers.cite news | url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2001/nov/20/broadcasting.g2 | title=Numbers game | author=Andy Beckett | publisher=The Guardian | date=2001-11-20 | accessdate=2008-01-09]

A flaw in the method became apparent when programmes with low audience numbers were left with a small, yet loyal, core of fans. These would give the programme an inflated "AI". When commercial television launched in Britain in 1955, advertisers were less concerned about attitudes to programmes than they were about viewing figures, and this marked the start of the frequent measurement of audience totals. With the establishment of commercial television, individual broadcasters began to gather their own ratings data, as well as viewer opinion in the form of the "AI", until 1981, when the major industry players set up the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) to compile this information. [cite web | url=http://www.barb.co.uk/about.cfm?report=structure&
| title=About BARB | publisher=BARB | accessdate=2008-01-09] In 2002, BARB ceased to compile "AI" data; as of January 2008, the BBC carries out its own research.

Method

Under BARB, viewing diaries were sent to 2,000 people on a panel made up of members of the public each week, with a further four panels consisting of 1,000 people each receiving diaries every four weeks. The BBC now uses a panel of up to 4,000 people. The members of the panels grade programmes from 0 to 10 and are also asked why they watched a particular programme. They are given three options:

*"Made a special effort."
*"Made some effort."
*"Because it was on."

The results are used to calculate a score between 0 and 100. The viewing diaries come with questionnaire booklets which can be tailored to ask questions of specific programmes or series. The BBC in particular has used this service to gauge the attitudes of younger people towards its programmes, as well as what members of the public were doing when watching, and their moods.cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi/newsid_4070000/newsid_4075100/4075157.stm | title=Watching you, watching us | author=James Holden | publisher=BBC News Online | date=2004-12-08 | accessdate=2008-01-08]

ee also

*Broadcasters' Audience Research Board
*Audience measurement
*Nielsen Ratings

References

External links

* [http://www.barb.co.uk/ BARB website]