Saudi Media Measurement Company (SMMC), the country’s first television audience measurement company, this week launched a nationwide campaign to recruit households for phase I of the television audience measurement project that kicked off last year.

SMMC’s audience rating system will track and analyze TV usage, through specialized electronic devices connected to TV sets in the households wishing to participate. The assimilated data will ultimately benefit the media industry by creating transparency and shedding the light on viewship behavior and preferences.

Mohamed A. Fal, chief executive officer, Saudi Media Measurement Company says in a press statement, “we are pleased to announce that we have moved out of the planning phase and are now at a point where we can really start to see progress. Phase I is one of the important phases of the project. The selection process will mean that we will use a slice of viewers that best reflect the country. Our transparent audience measurement system will benefit the media industry, by providing data that has previously been unavailable.”