Potential dispute over Sky's advertising ratings

Some advertising agencies may seek discounts on their advertising packages with Sky Ireland after it emerged that Irish advertisements on Sky Sports 1 and 2 are not available to NTL subscribers. Emmet Oliver reports

The ratings firm Nielsen Media Research has circulated a letter to agencies explaining that Irish ads on Sky Sports 1 and 2 are, at present, available only on Sky Digital and Chorus, not NTL.

The agency said that as a result of this, ratings for Sky Sports 1 and 2 slightly overestimated the number of people watching Irish adverts on these stations.

This was because anyone watching Sky Sports 1 and 2, regardless of the platform, were included in the overall viewing figures for Ireland.

The letter from Mr Chris Bowden, managing director, television research, added: "Sky are currently working closely with NTL to rectify this issue. It is envisaged that NTL viewers to both Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 will see the Irish opt-outs by the end of May."

'Opt-outs' are a facility used by TV companies which enables them to change their normal programming or advertising content and insert local content instead.

Other sources said last night that it may take some time before NTL and Sky come to an arrangement on the issue. It is understood there is a dispute over whether NTL should be paid extra for carrying Irish 'opt-outs' on Sky Sports 1 and 2.

Ms Martina Stenson, managing director of Universal McCann, one of the most prominent media buyers/planners in Dublin, said Sky may have to compensate some advertisers.

"Advertisers investing in Sky Sports 1 and 2 believed that all ratings reported on the AC Nielsen system in Ireland were an accurate reflection of viewing from an Irish 'opt-out' perspective. It now appears that Irish advertising is not carried on the NTL platform and therefore the actual break ratings reported are somewhat exaggerated as Nielsen reports total viewing to a station, and not viewing broken down by platform. It is likely that Sky will have to compensate advertisers for the under-delivery of ratings.

"We will obviously discuss this seriously with Sky on our clients' behalf and if compensation is due, I have no doubt that Sky will be fair in their dealings with individual agencies," she said.

Sky Ireland declined to comment on the situation. But it is understood the company wants to rectify the situation as soon as possible. The station already accepts Irish advertising on its Sky One and Sky News services and these are available on the NTL platform.