Nine notes audience numbers typically drop from the start of an online stream through to the end, with a stream with an average audience of 20,000-30,000 usually beginning with in excess of 100,000 – PARC averages audience numbers constantly throughout the course of a stream, bringing it into line with how TV audiences are measured.

PARC provides a “Total Viewer Exposure” number, which Nine states captures the total audience, regardless of screen or platform.

Nine group sales & marketing director Peter Wiltshire stated, with content increasingly consumed across multiple touch points, it is necessary “to measure audiences across the entire life cycle of the content journey – live broadcast, encores, playback, and online long and short-form”.

“As a cross-platform media owner we have wanted this data for quite a while, and our agency partners have been crying out for it,” Wiltshire commented. “PARC is the solution we have built while we wait for an industry-delivered currency.

“This is the first step in Nine Entertainment Co. being able to measure cross-platform consumption for our partners and sponsors across our major pieces of content. We are already in-market with the second season of The Block, selling audience delivery using this new calculation.”

PARC is not a trading currency, however “will help to close the current gap” in understanding how audiences are consuming content, and brand content partners, Steve Weaver, Nine group director, research & analytics, commented.