Tell-tale television

A British start-up is betting it has a better way for television networks to watch their viewers watching them.

Mirifice, based at the University of Bath Business Incubator Centre, says it has developed new TV-monitoring technology that can help broadcasters keep better tabs on large populations of viewers, in real time. The company, which is seeking funding, recently exhibited at an investor showcase organised by SetSquared Partnership, a tech-transfer consortium of the universities of Bath, Bristol, Southampton and Surrey.

Mirifice's technology identifies technical glitches in a network and notifies broadcasters immediately, according to Paul Tinkler, Mirifice managing director. The data broadcasters get covers not what individual viewers are doing, but rather the behaviour of the set of users across the network. Tinkler added that data protection requirements are addressed with the technology.

Existing viewer-monitoring systems for the broadcast industry usually take only a snapshot of individual boxes or of the network, rather than report in real time.  According to Tinkler, potential clients include telephone companies and broadcasters in cable, satellite and broadband TV.

Mirifice is expected to have full launch of its service in September 2006. The company also has plans to expand to Asia and the US.

Mirifice is looking to raise ₤2 million for its service launch. He said the company is discussing possible investment with six venture capital funds, and hopes to resolve the funding by April or May of 2006. The money will be used to staff its product development, product maintenance, sales and management teams. Tinkler expects the company to expand to a staff of 50 from its current 10.