Internet listeners, the unknown beings
Listening to Internet radio and watching television online currently play only a minor role. However, as media convergence increases, it must be possible to measure usage.
Internet Listening to the radio and watching television online still play a subordinate role at present. However, as media convergence increases, it must be possible to measure usage. There is hardly any reliable data on streaming, i.e. listening to the radio and watching television on the web, in Switzerland - and above all, little is known about surfer preferences. SF DRS started a trial with live streams in June, but stopped it after two days for legal reasons. The situation is different with radio: anyone working on their PC can now listen to all DRS stations (www.drs.ch) and the many private stations (www.radioplay.ch) on the side, but with a delay of up to half a minute depending on the PC and line.exact figures on web radio usage are not currently available. Although the Radiocontrol system recognizes streaming under certain conditions (see box), the clock cannot identify the source of the signal (radio, PC, department store loudspeaker).
Even MMXI Switzerland, which measures internet usage in Switzerland, can only shed a little light on the matter. The MMXI panel shows, for example, that out of 56,000 people who visited the www.drs.ch site at least once in July, 21% also listened directly to DRS web radio. It is not easy to determine whether they actually listened to the radio, which station and for how long.
It can't have been long, as the total presence per visitor on drs.ch in the whole month of July was only seven minutes. Measured against the average radio consumption of 121 minutes per person per day, radio streaming is therefore (still) a negligible factor. People who sit in front of their PC and listen to the radio at the same time do so via a separate receiver, in many cases probably also for financial reasons (telephone charges).
But MMXI wants to find out more. "MMXI claims to measure internet usage, so we also need to be able to identify this form of internet usage," says Urs Wolfensberger, Managing Director of MMXI Switzerland. If media convergence does indeed become more intensive, he says, the aim is to be able to provide the economy with the resources it needs on day X.
Inactive after 30 minutesThere are still two technical problems to be solved: MMXI already collects data on all processes on panel members' PCs, but streaming activities cannot be clearly identified and assigned in all cases. The second problem is that if an open browser on a panel member's screen shows no new clicks for around half an hour, the MMXI system judges it to be inactive. However, this is disastrous for streaming, because web radio browsers - once started - remain open in the background for a long time while people are surfing or working in the foreground. Future Internet measurement must therefore be able to identify streaming browsers and at the same time register any other (Internet) activity on the screen.
Another problem is the use of downloads. Ideally, future internet measurement will be able to indicate what was downloaded from the web and where (from CD, from the internet) and when or how often these downloads were used. The trick will be to allocate the use of broadcast downloads to the respective broadcasters. Urs Wolfensberger does not know whether this will happen. But MMXI will be taking a further step in the fall: the panel will then also be able to identify Real Player or Quicktime, i.e. applications that are used for streaming.
The streaming problem will not be the last to await a solution. Wolfensberger sees more to come for research: How are we supposed to measure and correctly allocate when the Internet or radio are perhaps used on a cell phone, the newspaper on a PC or TV and Internet in the car? "The more the individual media diversify their distribution channels, the more complicated it becomes to get an adequate picture of actual usage," he says.
Before a surfer's web listening habits can be measured, there are still many obstacles to overcome.
Steinmann is also on the ball "Radiocontrol can measure radio usage from the internet, provided the broadcast is not delayed by more than ten seconds," says Matthias Steinmann, Head of the SRG Research Service. If the delay is longer, additional software and, depending on the case, hardware would be required. "But it is technically feasible, we
are working on it," he says. But he doesn't think streaming is too relevant, he is more concerned with another problem: the ability of new TV sets to store programs and play them back with a time delay. "That's coming," he says firmly, "and Telecontrol will be ready for it." (mk)
Markus Knöpfli
Even MMXI Switzerland, which measures internet usage in Switzerland, can only shed a little light on the matter. The MMXI panel shows, for example, that out of 56,000 people who visited the www.drs.ch site at least once in July, 21% also listened directly to DRS web radio. It is not easy to determine whether they actually listened to the radio, which station and for how long.
It can't have been long, as the total presence per visitor on drs.ch in the whole month of July was only seven minutes. Measured against the average radio consumption of 121 minutes per person per day, radio streaming is therefore (still) a negligible factor. People who sit in front of their PC and listen to the radio at the same time do so via a separate receiver, in many cases probably also for financial reasons (telephone charges).
But MMXI wants to find out more. "MMXI claims to measure internet usage, so we also need to be able to identify this form of internet usage," says Urs Wolfensberger, Managing Director of MMXI Switzerland. If media convergence does indeed become more intensive, he says, the aim is to be able to provide the economy with the resources it needs on day X.
Inactive after 30 minutesThere are still two technical problems to be solved: MMXI already collects data on all processes on panel members' PCs, but streaming activities cannot be clearly identified and assigned in all cases. The second problem is that if an open browser on a panel member's screen shows no new clicks for around half an hour, the MMXI system judges it to be inactive. However, this is disastrous for streaming, because web radio browsers - once started - remain open in the background for a long time while people are surfing or working in the foreground. Future Internet measurement must therefore be able to identify streaming browsers and at the same time register any other (Internet) activity on the screen.
Another problem is the use of downloads. Ideally, future internet measurement will be able to indicate what was downloaded from the web and where (from CD, from the internet) and when or how often these downloads were used. The trick will be to allocate the use of broadcast downloads to the respective broadcasters. Urs Wolfensberger does not know whether this will happen. But MMXI will be taking a further step in the fall: the panel will then also be able to identify Real Player or Quicktime, i.e. applications that are used for streaming.
The streaming problem will not be the last to await a solution. Wolfensberger sees more to come for research: How are we supposed to measure and correctly allocate when the Internet or radio are perhaps used on a cell phone, the newspaper on a PC or TV and Internet in the car? "The more the individual media diversify their distribution channels, the more complicated it becomes to get an adequate picture of actual usage," he says.
Before a surfer's web listening habits can be measured, there are still many obstacles to overcome.
Steinmann is also on the ball "Radiocontrol can measure radio usage from the internet, provided the broadcast is not delayed by more than ten seconds," says Matthias Steinmann, Head of the SRG Research Service. If the delay is longer, additional software and, depending on the case, hardware would be required. "But it is technically feasible, we
are working on it," he says. But he doesn't think streaming is too relevant, he is more concerned with another problem: the ability of new TV sets to store programs and play them back with a time delay. "That's coming," he says firmly, "and Telecontrol will be ready for it." (mk)
Markus Knöpfli
