Barb, the audience measurement and television ratings organisation, together with its research partner Kantar Media, has started to report TV-set viewing to YouTube channels. This initiative, first announced in February, makes Barb the first TV joint-industry measurement system to incorporate viewing to YouTube channels.

Barb has chosen 200 of the most-watched YouTube channels to become part of its regular audience reporting. The selected channels span a variety of interests and topics, including kids’ content such as Bluey and Peppa Pig; sports like FIFA and WWE; UK and international news and politics such as Fox News and Times News; entertainment like Doctor Who and Warner Bros Entertainment and popular YouTubers such as MrBeast, Sidemen and Topper Guild.

To choose the 200 YouTube channels, Barb worked with SeeViews, an independent business that specialises in planning ad campaigns on YouTube. The selection was primarily based on volumes of viewing and considered whether the channels meet industry-agreed standards for brand safety.

Barb clients can now access a new weekly YouTube report in Barb’s client portal. This shows the weekly reach, share of total identified viewing on TV sets and total minutes viewed for each of the 200 YouTube channels. It also provides a demographic profile for each channel with information about the age and sex of viewers.

The first report shows the top 20 most-watched channels for the week ending July 20th:

The weekly report doesn’t feature YouTube channels operated by TV companies as Barb includes this viewing in the audience figures it reports for the TV companies.

Caroline Baxter, Chief Operating Officer at Barb, commented: “We are constantly innovating to keep pace with what people are watching today, without being constrained by the platforms or devices people watch on. We’ve gone beyond linear to report audiences to BVOD services, and we’ve gone beyond broadcasters to report audiences to the streamers. Now, using the same techniques we’ve been using for many years to report audiences to programmes on linear channels and streaming services, we’re breaking new ground again. This fresh, independent insight will shine a light on what people watch on YouTube for the first time, starting to answer the questions that are being asked across the advertising, programming and regulatory parts of our industry.”

To identify when the 200 selected YouTube channels are watched by Barb panel members at home, Kantar Media uses audio-matching automatic content recognition (ACR). This relies on access to the audio output of devices, which is only possible on TV sets. This technique is harnessed alongside URL detection via the WiFi router meters installed in Barb panel homes to confirm YouTube as the source. Audio-matching ACR is the same method Kantar Media uses to identify programme viewing on linear channels and streaming services.

Barb data show that TV sets account for the largest proportion of in-home, WiFi-based YouTube viewing. In the second quarter of 2025, TV-set viewing accounted for 43 per cent of all this YouTube viewing among people aged 16+, ahead of smartphones at 32 per cent. TV sets are also the most popular device for children aged 4-15, accounting for 53 per cent of their in-home, WiFi-based YouTube viewing in the same quarter.

Reacting to thee news. Jon Manning, Director of Advanced TV at Medialab, commented: “It’s no secret YouTube is a major part of how people watch video today, with Ofcom’s Media Nations 2025 report highlighting it’s now the second-most watched service in the UK across all devices in the home, just behind the BBC. With this in mind, Barb reporting TV-set viewing is a significant step in letting us measure YouTube’s place in the TV ecosystem with consistent definitions. In a fragmented video landscape, that kind of like-for-like comparison is exactly what advertisers need in paving the way for smarter AV planning.

“But let’s be clear: this is a starting point. It only covers in-home, TV-set viewing — not mobiles, tablets, or out of home. And it’s limited to the top 200 channels, it doesn’t cover the full platform. Barb can report aggregate in-home YouTube viewing across all devices, but not at the channel level. There’s also an uncomfortable irony. Just as Barb brings YouTube into independent measurement, the platform has stepped away from its Barb membership. This creates a tension between progress and platform participation, and highlights exactly why industry-standard measurement is needed.”

“That said, there’s real potential here. We’re focused on helping brands be able to understand the relationship between all forms of big-screen viewing and this new development makes that task easier and more accountable. If YouTube channel data can feed into tools like the Advanced Campaign Hub, CFlight, or eventually Barb Panel Plus, media planners will  be able to properly integrate it into campaign planning and attribution. That’s where the real value lies,” concluded Manning.

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Categories: Articles, Consumer Behaviour, Content, OTT, Research

Tags: BARB, medialab, mrbeast, Peppa Pig, wwe, youtube