NEWS RELEASE
29 July 2011
SAARF TAMS updates to new universe this August
August 2011 sees the release of the updated household universe for SAARF TAMS®, a universe
which for the first time includes TopTV households.
The new universe, which will be released on 1 August, 2011, is a response to changes seen in the TVviewing universe in the last AMPS release, AMPS Dec 10 (Jan–Dec 2010). While at first glance the
new figures may not appear that much higher – from 10 650 617 up to 10 689 640 – the new TAMS
universe is in fact significantly bigger considering it no longer includes PVR households.
“In the last universe, we included over 356 000 PVR households, which contributed to viewing data
for satellite TV,” says Dr Tiffany Tracey, SAARF’s senior technical support executive. “When we tried
to include PVR data together with the universe update, the changes were too great. The TAMS
Council therefore, made a decision to remove PVR households from the universe until we can
determine exactly how PVR viewing behaviour affects the TAMS data.”
Tracey explains that the new universe has therefore grown by over 397 000 households, due to
factors such as more TV sets in rural areas, with growth particularly in the Eastern Cape and in LSM
1-4.
The new universe update also includes TopTV households for the first time. The new satellite
operator’s data will only be released as a collective figure however. “The TopTV base is still too small
to allow for the release of viewing data for separate channels,” says Tracey.
The following tables show the differences between the current TAMS® adult universe (2010A) and
the universe that will be implemented in August 2011 (2010B).
Females Afr/Both
Males Afr/Both
Females Eng/Other
Males Eng/Other
Females Nguni
Males Nguni
Females Sotho
Males Sotho
LSM 1-4
LSM 5-7
LSM 8-10
Current TAMS universe
AMPS 2010A (6 months) – TAMS
universe (all adults 15+)
*Includes individuals with PVR in home
NonTotal
Satellite
Satellite
2 348479
737947
1610532
2247758
832322
1415436
1783867
754159
1029708
1625307
733502
891805
5502777
890801
4611976
5163840
981463
4182377
4949272
797998
4151274
4378967
734263
3644704
28 000 267
6 462 455 21 537 812
5 036 844
27 532
5 009 312
15 136 806
2 035 185 13 101 621
7 826 616
4 399 738
3 426 878
28 000 266
6 462 455 21 537 811
TAMS universe for August 2011
AMPS 2010B (6 months) – TAMS
universe (all adults 15+)
*Excludes individuals with PVR in home
NonTotal
Satellite
Satellite
2 277 518
677 073
1 600 445
2 095 314
656 493
1 438 821
1 577 982
732 276
845 706
1 500 476
703 816
796 660
5 917 231
1 161 911
4 755 320
5 193 608
1 103 354
4 090 254
4 987 963
949 882
4 038 081
4 441 861
840 765
3 601 096
27 991 953
6 825 570 21 166 383
5 497 792
30 759
5 467 033
15 357 051
2 549 346 12 807 705
7 137 110
4 245 465
2 891 645
27 991 953
6 825 570 21 166 383
Western Cape
Northern Cape
Free State
Eastern Cape
KwaZulu-Natal
Mpumalanga
Limpopo
Gauteng
North West
Current TAMS universe
AMPS 2010A (6 months) – TAMS
universe (all adults 15+)
*Includes individuals with PVR in home
NonTotal
Satellite
Satellite
3340860
679794
2661066
541535
91549
449986
1943251
338785
1604466
3204846
558366
2646480
5157005
1322301
3834704
1935055
468111
1466944
3 217220
476871
2740349
6407619
2203216
4204403
2 252875
323463
1929412
28 000 266
6 462 456 21 537 810
TAMS universe for August 2011
AMPS 2010B (6 months) – TAMS
universe (all adults 15+)
*Excludes individuals with PVR in home
NonTotal
Satellite
Satellite
3 327 233
674 137
2 653 096
537 174
87 710
449 464
1 918 248
425 398
1 492 850
3 416 980
544 941
2 872 039
5 216 668
1 513 929
3 702 739
1 982 017
477 244
1 504 773
3 257 760
543 882
2 713 878
6 069 815
2 166 984
3 902 831
2 266 058
391 345
1 874 713
27 991 953
6 825 570 21 166 383
Thousands difference between current
and August 2011 universe
Females Afr/Both
Males Afr/Both
Females Eng/Other
Males Eng/Other
Females Nguni
Males Nguni
Females Sotho
Males Sotho
LSM 1-4
LSM 5-7
LSM 8-10
Western Cape
Northern Cape
Free State
Eastern Cape
KwaZulu-Natal
Mpumalanga
Limpopo
Gauteng
North West
Total
-70 961
-152 444
-205 885
-124 831
414 454
29 768
38 691
62 894
-8 314
460 948
220 245
-689 506
-8 313
-13 627
-4 361
-25 003
212 134
59 663
46 962
40 540
-337 804
13 183
-8 313
Satellite
-60 874
-175 829
-21 883
-29 686
271 110
121 891
151 884
106 502
363 115
3 227
514 161
-154 273
363 115
-5 657
-3 839
86 613
-13 425
191 628
9 133
67 011
-36 232
67 882
363 114
NonSatellite
-10 087
23 385
-184 002
-95 145
143 344
-92 123
-113 193
-43 608
-371 429
457 721
-293 916
-535 233
-371 428
-7 970
-522
-111 616
225 559
-131 965
37 829
-26 471
-301 572
-54 699
-371 427
Percentage change between
current and August 2011
universe
NonTotal
Satellite Satellite
-3
-8
-1
-7
-21
2
-12
-3
-18
-8
-4
-11
8
30
3
1
12
-2
1
19
-3
1
15
-1
0
6
-2
9
12
9
1
25
-2
-9
-4
-16
0
6
-2
0
-1
0
-1
-4
0
-1
26
-7
7
-2
9
1
14
-3
2
2
3
1
14
-1
-5
-2
-7
1
21
-3
0
6
-2
WHY MUST SAARF UPDATE THE TAMS UNIVERSE?
The TAMS® universe is made up of all households, both rural and urban, with mains electricity and at
least one working TV set. TAMS® measures all platforms: both analogue and digital, and both
terrestrial and satellite. Personal viewing data is captured by the TAMS® meter for all household
members aged four and older, and includes all guests in the home. Domestic workers are also
included in the TAMS® universe but are treated as separate households.
Like all TAMS panels worldwide, SAARF TAMS® uses an establishment survey to estimate the size of
the television universe, which will set the parameters of the sample. In South Africa, TAMS® uses the
All Media and Products Survey (AMPS®) for this purpose. The TAMS® universe is therefore adjusted
every six months as each new AMPS® is released (normally in January and August each year).
An establishment survey is the only way to correctly reflect the relative sizes of all the different TV
platforms at a given moment in time. Amongst other things, SAARF also needs to know how many
TVs, satellite decoders and so on people have, in order to measure TV accurately. This information is
sourced from AMPS®.
Updating the universe regularly ensures that the TAMS® data remains up to date with changes
happening in the TV arena, changes which are brought about by the constant addition of new
households to the TV-viewing population, the advent of new pay-TV providers and the inexorable
move to Pay TV.
ends