Barb
UK TV and video audience measurement currency provider.
Available information varies by company and source.
Profile record updated:
Company facts
- Official name
- BARB AUDIENCES LIMITED
- Entity type
- COMPANY
- Founded
- 1981
- Headquarters
- 4th Floor, 114 St. Martin's Lane, London, WC2N 4BE, United Kingdom
- Company size
- 10–49
- Market role
- Data Provider / Broker
- Official website
- barb.co.uk
What Barb does
Barb operates a joint industry measurement model. It collects, structures and distributes official UK viewing data, then licences access to those datasets and analytical environments to broadcasters, agencies, advertisers, streaming platforms and related professional users. Because it is a not-for-profit body limited by guarantee, its commercial model is oriented around funding and sustaining trusted industry measurement infrastructure rather than maximising profit margins.
Category differentiation
Barb is not an ad network, broadcaster or agency; it is a UK audience measurement body. It should be distinguished from global research firms such as Nielsen, Kantar and Ipsos by its role as the UK television and video measurement currency provider.
Strategic context
AI-supported assessment from the existing company research; distinguish interpretation from sourced facts.
Barb is the UK’s television and video audience measurement body, operating as a not-for-profit company that provides industry-standard viewing data used by broadcasters, advertisers, agencies, streaming services and research teams. Its core products include subscriber-only analytics portals such as What People Watch and Barb Ads Hub, alongside public viewing-data publications. The company’s role is to produce trusted audience measurement and reporting across linear TV and streaming-related viewing contexts in the UK. Barb generates revenue primarily through subscription and data access arrangements rather than advertising or consumer monetisation. Its paying customers are industry participants that need official audience currency for campaign planning, trading, reporting and market analysis. The company creates value by combining panel and census-level datasets into a standardised measurement framework accepted across the UK advertising and broadcast ecosystem.
Company news briefing
Briefing updated:
Under Chief Executive Caroline Davey, Barb has continued to strengthen its leadership team with the appointment of Jen McLevey as Head of Strategic Developments. This organizational expansion supports the audience measurement body's ongoing role as an independent data currency, with leadership actively discussing the future of joint industry currencies and streamers in industry forums.
Business model & monetisation
Barb monetises through B2B subscriptions, licences and controlled data-access arrangements tied to its measurement platforms and datasets. Its subscriber portal products indicate recurring paid access for clients, while public viewing summaries serve as an open layer that supports industry visibility and authority. As a not-for-profit entity, revenue is likely reinvested into maintaining and extending measurement services rather than distributed as profit.
- Subscriber portal access
- Software Subscription
- Dataset licensing and controlled access rights
- Service Fee
- Public viewing data publication
- Ad-Supported
Products & capabilities
No products with linked sources are available in this view.
Products & market categories
Media Channel
Technology
Recent recorded signals
Dates refer to the source publication. Older entries are historical context, not evidence of a new event.
Unfiltered Media podcast interview with Caroline Davey and Luca Vannini
Recorded impact score: 2/5
Barb's COO Caroline Davey and Luca Vannini are featured in an Unfiltered Media podcast interview, discussing the future of JICs and streamers.
Netflix Ad Boss Pitches Full-Funnel Media Plan in UK
CTV · Recorded impact score: 4/5
At its first UK Upfront, Netflix's advertising chief Amy Reinhard outlined the company's ambition to expand beyond a top-of-funnel, linear TV substitute to compete for digital budgets. Netflix announced that its ad-supported plan reaches over 14 million UK viewers, with expansion into nine more EMEA countries set for March 1, 2027. Pause Ads will be available programmatically via partner DSPs next month, and demographic targeting will now include income and household composition. The company cited System1 research showing its brand partnerships excel in long-term brand-building, and highlighted live events like the Fury vs Joshua fight to attract advertisers. Reinhard stressed Netflix's subscription-first economics prevent ad load pressure, with an attention rate of 86% for UK ad-tier viewers.
- Netflix's ad-supported plan reaches over 14 million UK viewers, nearly one in four people.
- Netflix will launch its ad tier in nine additional EMEA countries on March 1, 2027.
Barb hires Jen McLevey as Head of Strategic Developments
Recorded impact score: 3.5/5
Barb hires Jen McLevey as Head of Strategic Developments
Ofcom: Younger Viewers Reach Streaming Saturation
CTV · Recorded impact score: 4/5
Ofcom's Media Nations report finds that while SVOD viewing time rose, overall at-home video viewing in the UK declined in 2025 as younger audiences face competition from social media, gaming and other online entertainment. SVOD/AVOD viewing increased slightly, driven by drama and older viewers, but SVOD household penetration has plateaued (70% in Q1 2026). SVOD revenues grew 18% year‑on‑year to £5.17bn, while commercial broadcaster revenues fell 3% to £4.83bn. The report highlights hybrid monetisation (ad tiers and bundling), increased BVOD revenue, and rising collaboration and aggregation among broadcasters and streaming services.
- Ofcom's Media Nations report finds overall at-home video viewing in the UK declined in 2025.
- Proportion of UK households with an SVOD service was 70% in Q1 2026, two percentage points higher than in 2021 (citing Barb).
Barb strengthens leadership team as Caroline Davey becomes Chief Executive
Recorded impact score: 4/5
Barb strengthens leadership team as Caroline Davey becomes Chief Executive
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Questions about Barb
What is Barb?
Barb is a UK audience measurement organisation that provides official television and video viewing data to the media and advertising industry.
Who uses Barb?
Broadcasters, streaming platforms, advertisers, media agencies, media buyers, researchers and other industry professionals use Barb’s data and portals.
How does Barb make money?
Barb makes money through subscriptions, licences and controlled access to its audience datasets and analytics portals for business users.
Sources & coverage
This profile uses public, official and technically observable information. Missing information does not prove that a product or relationship does not exist. The list below does not imply that every profile statement has been verified.
17 publicly documented primary sources and citations linked across the market graph.
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