Numeris (formerly the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement, or BBM Canada) is a Canadian

audience measurement Audience measurement calculates how many people are in an audience, usually in relation to radio listenership and television viewership, but also in relation to newspaper and magazine readership and, increasingly, web traffic. The term is someti ...

organization. Established on May 11, 1944 as a division of the

Canadian Association of Broadcasters The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) is a trade association representing the interests of commercial radio and television broadcasters in Canada. It is co-located with the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council in Ottawa. It was first ...

, Numeris is the sole provider of viewership numbers for television and radio broadcasters in Canada.

History

Numeris was founded by the

on May 11, 1944 as the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement. In 1964, it became the first ratings service in the world to introduce computerized sample selection. In 2004, the organization began a joint venture with

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

to adopt its

Portable People Meter The Portable People Meter (PPM), also known as the Nielsen Meter, is a system developed by Arbitron (now Nielsen Audio) to measure how many people are exposed to individual Radio broadcasting, radio stations and television stations. This also ...

system for television audience measurement. The organization officially shortened its name to BBM Canada in 2001; despite this, many outlets still referred to the organization under its previous name. In late December 2011, BBM sued Canadian technology company

Research in Motion BlackBerry Limited, formerly Research In Motion (RIM), is a Canadian software company specializing in secure communications and the Internet of Things (IoT). Founded in 1984, it developed the BlackBerry brand of interactive pagers, smartpho ...

for

trademark infringement Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attached to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the licence). Infringement may occ ...

, as it uses the "BBM" acronym to refer to its

BlackBerry Messenger BBM, also known by its full name BlackBerry Messenger, was a consumer-oriented proprietary mobile instant messenger and videotelephony application service originally developed by BlackBerry Limited and later briefly by Indonesian company Emtek ...

service. The organization alleged that it had received phone calls from users who believed that they were affiliated with RIM. RIM objected to the lawsuit, arguing that both companies were in unrelated industries. The suit was dismissed in 2012 by Canadian federal courts as being without merit. BBM Canada ultimately chose to adopt a different name. On June 19, 2014, BBM Canada re-branded as Numeris, unveiling a new logo designed by the agency Cundari, along with a new slogan, "Audiences Count". The company felt that the BBM name, especially given the continued use of its full name by media outlets, evoked visions of "surveys and bureaucracy" that were inconsistent with its modern operation. On August 28, 2022, Numeris ceased publication of TV Topline Reports.

Radio

In radio, Numeris is the main provider of ratings services. The company has traditionally used a

diary A diary is a written or audiovisual memorable record, with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digita ...

-based system for tracking radio audience habits and this system is still used in most markets. In

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

and

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

ratings are now measured using the

(PPM) technology.

Television

In television, Numeris is partnered with the American company Nielsen in a joint venture which measures the Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal Anglo and Montreal Franco markets, the Ontario region and national ratings figures via Portable People Meters.

References

External links

* {{Official website Market research companies of Canada Audience measurement 1944 establishments in Canada Radio organizations in Canada Television organizations in Canada

History

Radio

Television

See also

References

External links