As per a recent announcement made in the local media industry, Kantar Media has won the contract to establish the first people meter-based TV audience measurement panel in the United Arab Emirates region.

It is to be mentioned here that the five-year deal will see Kantar as providing the ratings data for the Emirates Media Measurement Company.

It may be noted here that the measurement company counts major media firms matching to the likes of Abu Dhabi Media Company, Dubai Media Incorporated, Sharjah Media Corporation and regulatory authority the National Media Council (NMC) among its stakeholders.

While close to eight hundred households across the key seven Emirates will have close to 5000 PeopleMeters installed to automatically track their viewing habits every minute, the audio matching technology device will be used to find out which channels are being watched by the public in the region.

The NMC has said in a statement that the project is a milestone in the media industry in UAE. The company also mentioned the fact that it received official sanction from government ministers to pursue people meter technology in the month of march. The new contract will be used as a replacement for the diary and CATI surveys previously used to monitor viewing habits.