Telecontrol portable meters
In contrast to the fixed meters installed in households, meters known as ‘portable’ meters are available nowadays. These are worn by the people representatively selected for the study and thus have the advantage that they are closer to the people and can also record mobile media usage.
The Telecontrol Group has invested heavily in the development of a portable meter. Assisted by four university institutes, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich and 16 outside companies, a new measuring device was developed that had to be so small and handy - despite its powerful performance - that panellists did not feel restricted in their everyday lives and their media behaviour remained unaffected. The Telecontrol Group’s solution to this problem was ingenious: the measuring device was manufactured in the shape of and with the functions of a wristwatch. The benefit of a watch was obvious: wearing a watch is natural for most people and does not affect everyday life. As a result, people’s willingness to participate in a study and wear the watch is at a high level (the Swiss panel has a response rate of more than 85%) and panellists can be relied on to wear the watch (an average of 17 hours a day in Switzerland).