Barb, the UK’s joint industry committee (JIC) for TV measurement, has today added pre-campaign functionality to Barb Ads Hub, bringing campaign forecasting capabilities to the analytics system. Barb said the pre-campaign planner enables users to forecast the unduplicated reach and frequency delivered by campaigns on linear and VOD services over multiple screens.
The JIC announced that buyers and sellers of UK TV advertising with access to Barb Ads Hub can now use the pre-campaign planner, which was previously known as Advanced Campaign Hub.
The pre-campaign planner combines Barb panel data and first-party data with census-level impressions supplied by participating VOD services, which now include the major global streaming services. Barb added Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and Discovery+ to Advanced Campaign Hub in 2024, and Disney+ in 2025.
The media-measurement loop
Barb Ads Hub was launched in January to provide full-cycle ad campaign planning and reporting tools for advertisers, enabling users to estimate and evaluate campaign performance across linear and VOD services using Barb data and media owners’ first-party data. Built by RSMB, the system was designed to provide a “modern and intuitive interface”, allowing users to run campaign reports with advanced data-visualisation capabilities, while also supporting automated requests via API for ingestion into proprietary tools.
At launch the service featured post-campaign evaluation functionality, using methodology from CFlight, the joint-industry TV campaign reporting service that Barb took under its wing in 2024.
In February, Barb told VideoWeek that clients are seeking end-to-end campaign reporting capabilities in order to understand the media-measurement loop, and Barb Ads Hub was launched in response to those calls. With the inclusion of pre-campaign planning, the system now provides “the single port of call for all UK advertising buyers and sellers’ pre- and post-campaign planning needs,” according to Barb.
“Barb Ads Hub is designed to provide something for everyone at all stages of the campaign planning and reporting cycle,” said Luca Vannini, Head of Campaign Audiences at Barb. “The addition of the pre-campaign planner means that Barb Ads Hub is now the principal destination for close to 600 UK buyers and sellers of advertising for full-cycle campaign optimisation, with all data compiled and reported in line with joint-industry standards.”
Not sitting still
While the addition of pre-campaign planning expands the functionality available to advertisers, further advancements are required to help them successfully navigate multiple video services.
Last month Barb noted the widespread industry demand for independent audience data on video-sharing services, most notably YouTube. But the JIC has paused its reporting of TV-set audiences for YouTube channels, after Google moved to block the company from accessing its data. The measurement body said it remains “committed to meeting industry demand for this insight.”
Meanwhile for Barb Ads Hub, Vannini said the JIC was “not sitting still” in its developments to the new system, including integrating the streaming services into post-campaign analysis. The measurement body has also extended its coverage of BVOD services on Barb Ads Hub, with TNT Sports and Sky’s AVOD services now included in the analysis, and will add STV later this month.
Barb added that a new MMM (marketing mix modelling) data pack will be available within post-campaign evaluation, enabling users to access campaign exposure data across linear and VOD in a single location for use in MMM. Also this month, Barb will provide the ability to delineate campaign results by sales house, and to request analysis for campaigns that run only on VOD services.
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