Unpacking TAMS Panel changes
Old TAMS excluded DStv
When SAARF first started measuring DStv viewership on the TAMS panel about 11 years ago, DStv penetration was growing at a rapid rate. This resulted in the Establishment Survey AMPS (All Media and Products Survey) lagging behind in its measurement of the penetration. At the time, MultiChoice supplied SAARF with audited DStv subscriber data to be used in the weighting.
(The standard subscriber number audit is based effectively on a customer count, which is not the same metric as households. In order to get to a "proxy" for private households a number of filters are applied to the subscriber numbers so that they best reflect the TAMS Universe).