On June 1, 2009, the Traffic Audit Bureau (TAB) released the outdoor industry's first ratings for all 200 markets. Having been in development for the past five years, the “Eyes On” ratings replace the previous system that relied solely on traffic counts (DEC, or daily effective circulation) to place a value on outdoor advertising. The Eyes On rating add a "likely to see" component, making outdoor the first medium to report seeing an advertising message.
Also, the previous system didn’t significantly differentiate between billboards in the same market. For example, a similar number of views would be attributed to a billboard on an interstate and one posted at an underpass. But in fact, very different groups of people were seeing those signs. Eyes On, however, allows media buyers to differentiate between those groups by looking at demographic data for each individual billboard.
"All of us are proud to say that we are now the first medium to report seeing an advertising message. To be at the forefront of innovation is truly exciting. They say you can't teach old dogs new tricks, but we know better than that," said Joe Philport, president and CEO of the TAB, who coordinated the development of EYES ON.
Over the next several months, more than 1,000 individuals from TAB member companies will review the numbers available on TAB's web-based Audience Delivery System and begin to transition to the new system.
Ratings will be released twice a year, with the second batch due this fall. Philport says TAB is recommending that the initial Eyes On data not be used for buying and selling, saying the fall numbers will be out in time for 2010 use.