While at first glance, the new figures may not appear that much higher - from 10 650 617 up to 10 689 640 - the new TAMS universe is in fact significantly bigger considering it no longer includes PVR households.
"In the last universe, we included over 356 000 PVR households, which contributed to viewing data for satellite TV," says Dr Tiffany Tracey, SAARF's senior technical support executive. "When we tried to include PVR data together with the universe update, the changes were too great. The TAMS Council therefore, made a decision to remove PVR households from the universe until we can determine exactly how PVR viewing behaviour affects the TAMS data."
Tracey explains that the new universe has therefore grown by over 397 000 households, due to factors such as more TV sets in rural areas, with growth particularly in the Eastern Cape and in LSM 1-4.
The new satellite operator's data will only be released as a collective figure however. "The TopTV base is still too small to allow for the release of viewing data for separate channels," says Tracey.
The following tables show the differences between the current TAMS® adult universe (2010A) and the universe that will be implemented in August 2011 (2010B).
Updating the universe regularly, ensures that the TAMS data remains up to date with changes happening in the TV arena, c brought about by the constant addition of new households to the TV-viewing population, the advent of new pay-tv providers and the move to Pay TV.
| Current TAMS universe | TAMS universe for August 2011 | |||||
| AMPS 2010A (6 months) - TAMS universe (all adults 15+) | AMPS 2010B (6 months) - TAMS universe (all adults 15+) | |||||
| *Includes individuals with PVR in home | *Excludes individuals with PVR in home | |||||
| Total | Satellite | Non-Satellite | Total | Satellite | Non-Satellite | |
| Females Afr/Both | 2 348479 | 737947 | 1610532 | 2 277 518 | 677 073 | 1 600 445 |
| Males Afr/Both | 2247758 | 832322 | 1415436 | 2 095 314 | 656 493 | 1 438 821 |
| Females Eng/Other | 1783867 | 754159 | 1029708 | 1 577 982 | 732 276 | 845 706 |
| Males Eng/Other | 1625307 | 733502 | 891805 | 1 500 476 | 703 816 | 796 660 |
| Females Nguni | 5502777 | 890801 | 4611976 | 5 917 231 | 1 161 911 | 4 755 320 |
| Males Nguni | 5163840 | 981463 | 4182377 | 5 193 608 | 1 103 354 | 4 090 254 |
| Females Sotho | 4949272 | 797998 | 4151274 | 4 987 963 | 949 882 | 4 038 081 |
| Males Sotho | 4378967 | 734263 | 3644704 | 4 441 861 | 840 765 | 3 601 096 |
| 28 000 267 | 6 462 455 | 21 537 812 | 27 991 953 | 6 825 570 | 21 166 383 | |
| LSM 1-4 | 5 036 844 | 27 532 | 5 009 312 | 5 497 792 | 30 759 | 5 467 033 |
| LSM 5-7 | 15 136 806 | 2 035 185 | 13 101 621 | 15 357 051 | 2 549 346 | 12 807 705 |
| LSM 8-10 | 7 826 616 | 4 399 738 | 3 426 878 | 7 137 110 | 4 245 465 | 2 891 645 |
| 28 000 266 | 6 462 455 | 21 537 811 | 27 991 953 | 6 825 570 | 21 166 383 | |
| Current TAMS universe | TAMS universe for August 2011 | |||||
| AMPS 2010A (6 months) - TAMS universe (all adults 15+) | AMPS 2010B (6 months) - TAMS universe (all adults 15+) | |||||
| *Includes individuals with PVR in home | *Excludes individuals with PVR in home | |||||
| Total | Satellite | Non-Satellite | Total | Satellite | Non-Satellite | |
| Western Cape | 3340860 | 679794 | 2661066 | 3 327 233 | 674 137 | 2 653 096 |
| Northern Cape | 541535 | 91549 | 449986 | 537 174 | 87 710 | 449 464 |
| Free State | 1943251 | 338785 | 1604466 | 1 918 248 | 425 398 | 1 492 850 |
| Eastern Cape | 3204846 | 558366 | 2646480 | 3 416 980 | 544 941 | 2 872 039 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 5157005 | 1322301 | 3834704 | 5 216 668 | 1 513 929 | 3 702 739 |
| Mpumalanga | 1935055 | 468111 | 1466944 | 1 982 017 | 477 244 | 1 504 773 |
| Limpopo | 3 217220 | 476871 | 2740349 | 3 257 760 | 543 882 | 2 713 878 |
| Gauteng | 6407619 | 2203216 | 4204403 | 6 069 815 | 2 166 984 | 3 902 831 |
| North West | 2 252875 | 323463 | 1929412 | 2 266 058 | 391 345 | 1 874 713 |
| 28 000 266 | 6 462 456 | 21 537 810 | 27 991 953 | 6 825 570 | 21 166 383 | |
| Thousands difference between current and August 2011 universe | Thousands difference between current and August 2011 universe | |||||
| Total | Satellite | Non-Satellite | Total | Satellite | Non-Satellite | |
| Females Afr/Both | -70 961 | -60 874 | -10 087 | -3 | -8 | -1 |
| Males Afr/Both | -152 444 | -175 829 | 23 385 | -7 | -21 | 2 |
| Females Eng/Other | -205 885 | -21 883 | -184 002 | -12 | -3 | -18 |
| Males Eng/Other | -124 831 | -29 686 | -95 145 | -8 | -4 | -11 |
| Females Nguni | 414 454 | 271 110 | 143 344 | 8 | 30 | 3 |
| Males Nguni | 29 768 | 121 891 | -92 123 | 1 | 12 | -2 |
| Females Sotho | 38 691 | 151 884 | -113 193 | 1 | 19 | -3 |
| Males Sotho | 62 894 | 106 502 | -43 608 | 1 | 15 | -1 |
| -8 314 | 363 115 | -371 429 | 0 | 6 | -2 | |
| LSM 1-4 | 460 948 | 3 227 | 457 721 | 9 | 12 | 9 |
| LSM 5-7 | 220 245 | 514 161 | -293 916 | 1 | 25 | -2 |
| LSM 8-10 | -689 506 | -154 273 | -535 233 | -9 | -4 | -16 |
| -8 313 | 363 115 | -371 428 | 0 | 6 | -2 | |
| Western Cape | -13 627 | -5 657 | -7 970 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
| Northern Cape | -4 361 | -3 839 | -522 | -1 | -4 | 0 |
| Free State | -25 003 | 86 613 | -111 616 | -1 | 26 | -7 |
| Eastern Cape | 212 134 | -13 425 | 225 559 | 7 | -2 | 9 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 59 663 | 191 628 | -131 965 | 1 | 14 | -3 |
| Mpumalanga | 46 962 | 9 133 | 37 829 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Limpopo | 40 540 | 67 011 | -26 471 | 1 | 14 | -1 |
| Gauteng | -337 804 | -36 232 | -301 572 | -5 | -2 | -7 |
| North West | 13 183 | 67 882 | -54 699 | 1 | 21 | -3 |
| -8 313 | 363 114 | -371 427 | 0 | 6 | -2 | |
