RSMB was established in 1987 to offer high quality design and operations in the field of television audience measurement. Since then we've earned a reputation for innovation in audience research methodologies that have helped the UK media research industry meet the challenges of rapid changes in consumer media use.
RSMB has been a contractor to the UK's television and BVOD measurement body, Barb, since 1989 and this relationship will continue until at least 2029. In June 2021 Barb awarded us a new contract which will run from 2024; this is our fourth consecutive Barb contract and encompasses methodology, statistical design and quality control for the overall service.
RSMB’s expertise has been recognised by other industry organisations. RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research Ltd) appointed RSMB as one of the contractors for the service which started in 2007. RSMB’s appointment reflected RAJAR’s desire to be able to respond to the increasing demands and complexity of the UK radio industry.
In addition, the company has worked with clients to develop a number of data integrations and macro models that are regarded to have broken new ground in cross-media research, such as the IPA TouchPoints media planning tool and Comcast/Sky's UK implementation of the CFlight cross platform measurement and reporting methodology. The CFlight methodology is now being enhanced to include ITV and Channel 4.
RSMB is an independent company jointly owned by Kantar and Havas.
Chief Executive
Chris joined RSMB as Chief Executive in February 2020. Chris entered the audience research industry over 30 years ago, initially working for regional ITV stations, then Eurosport before moving to Sky to be Head of Research for Sky Television. From Sky he moved to the BBC where he was Head of Audiences, in charge of all the BBC’s audience research across public service (licence fee funded) activities. During his tenure at the BBC he was responsible a number of innovations including the Pulse (the BBC’s first online audience reaction panel) and the Daily Life Survey, the first major UK research initiative using PDAs. Immediately prior to RSMB, Chris was Managing Director of Clearcast, the commercial company responsible for the preclearance of TV advertising. Chris has previously been a Director of Barb and RAJAR.
Chief Operating Officer
Andy started his career at Audits of Great Britain in 1984 as a Statistician. He joined RSMB when the company was formed in 1987, taking responsibility for designing and building systems to process all types of research and marketing information data, including all RSMB’s Barb panel management and quality control software systems. Over the years Andy has developed a number of statistically-based numerical procedures, including the pioneering RSMB data fusion algorithm. Andy's knowledge of industry datasets is second to none and as COO his focus is on understanding how we can use our expertise to continue to innovate in meeting our clients needs.
Chief Technology Officer
José joined us in April 2023, and brings extensive experience in data, product and technology in the media environment. He has a distinguished academic background, earning a PhD in Mathematical Sciences from Durham University and completing an Executive MBA from London Business School. José has also had a wide ranging career spanning data and technology roles at Sky, CWT, The Crown Estate, and more recently as CTO of Mode, an LSE-listed fintech startup. At Sky he played an important role in developing the measurement platforms for AdSmart, where he first encountered RSMB. José now heads RSMB's Technology team, utilizing his experience in data science, product, and technology to deliver our next generation technology solutions, ensuring they meet the evolving needs of our clients and industry.
Commercial Director
Ross has over 25 years media research experience, specialising in television audience measurement. Ross began his career at Carlton Television before spending six years at the pioneering media agency PHD. He returned to the broadcast sector with BSkyB. In 2006 Ross took the role of Client Services Director at AGB Nielsen Media Research, the then metering and measurement contractor for Barb. At AGB NMR, Ross had responsibility for the measurement and reporting, data production, client service and commercial development functions. At RSMB Ross has responsibility for commercial operations.
Research Director
Debbie has been at RSMB since 1998 when she joined as a Statistician. Since then she has undertaken a variety of roles, from being responsible for the development of audience calculation methodologies, sampling errors and a variety of statistical related projects, through to managing RSMB’s Quality Control department. Debbie is currently responsible for managing RSMB’s Barb contract for survey design, calculation methodology and quality control, while taking a leading role in RSMB’s involvement in all developments of the Barb service.
Chief Statistician
Noel O’Sullivan is Chief Statistician for RSMB, having joined the company in 1995. Noel graduated in Statistics from Bath University. His responsibilities at RSMB include specifying the methodology used in the Barb contract, quality controlling the overall service and providing general statistical consultancy. Noel is also involved in the sample design and quality control for the RAJAR contract. Noel has designed and undertaken a number of fusion projects for RSMB, including the fusion element of the IPA Touchpoints service.
Statistics Manager
Kirsty joined RSMB in 2012 from the Ministry of Defence where she was a Higher Statistical Officer conducting survey research. Prior to that she was at IPC Media. Kirsty’s responsibilities at RSMB have included technical consultant for JICREG, developing calculation methodology for local media audiences, working on a variety of data integration projects including IPA TouchPoints, conducting methodological audits of third party methodologies and more recently overseeing our work on CFlight. Kirsty holds an MSc in Statistics from University College London and a BSc in Mathematics from Royal Holloway, University of London.
Technical Client Services Manager
Anne has been involved in media research since 1991, working on both the supplier and client side. She has previously worked for RSMB and AGB Nielsen Media Research in the panel and client service departments. She has also worked in the research and strategy areas for leading broadcasters including Carlton, Flextech and NBC Universal. Anne returned to RSMB to manage the company’s audience measurement contract for RAJAR, while also taking responsibility for the client service department.
IT Manager
Mike has been at RSMB since 1990 and currently combines managing the IT department with various aspects of software development, data processing and hardware/software/network support. Mike’s principal role is in the quality control, data processing and special analysis of Barb Databases I & II, Barb Establishment Survey and RAJAR data. Mike holds an honours degree in Natural Philosophy from Glasgow University.
