OzTAM has announced Fetch TV as its newest big data partner, strengthening its proof-of-concept (POC) project designed to advance television audience measurement in Australia.
The deal will see Fetch contribute anonymous, aggregated Return Path Data (RPD) from approximately 700,000 households using its set-top boxes. RPD delivers second-by-second viewing insights, showing what content is being watched, when, and for how long across both broadcast and digital platforms. The inclusion of Fetch data is expected to provide more granular insights, particularly into regional viewing behaviour.
The initiative, launched in April 2025, combines big data from OzTAM’s existing partners Samba TV and Nexxen with its own internal datasets. Samba and Nexxen supply Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) data from over 2.2 million connected TV sets in Australia. This will be integrated with OzTAM and Regional TAM’s 8,300-panel homes and data from 16 million connected devices captured through the Video Player Measurement (VPM) service each month.
Karen Halligan, OzTAM CEO, said: “We are delighted to welcome Fetch TV as our latest big data partner as we look to further enhance Australia’s audience measurement capability. The inclusion of Fetch TV further strengthens our proof-of-concept and moves us closer to understanding the impact of incorporating big data sources into VOZ Total TV currency.”
Dominic Arena, Fetch TV CEO, added: “With our scale and presence in around 700,000 Australian homes and universal content viewed on our platform, this collaboration allows us to contribute to initiatives that enhance the accuracy and consistency of screen measurement across Australia.”
The POC is being delivered in two phases. Phase One focuses on scoping opportunities and benefits of combining big data with OzTAM’s core panel data. Phase Two will involve industry stakeholders in building a roadmap for integrating these sources into VOZ, the industry’s Total TV currency.
Big data in television measurement typically involves RPD from set-top boxes combined with ACR from smart TVs. Together, these sources capture both linear viewing and on-demand, multi-platform consumption, offering a more complete picture of how Australians are engaging with TV content.
Top image: Karen Halligan