The television industry is using the power of electronic ratings measurement in a new way with the development of a desktop ‘widget’ that allows anyone connected to the internet to instantly see the top program ratings on their computer.

The new tool has been introduced by industry body Free TV as it continues to battle for advertising market share against the pay tv sector.

On Mac computers such tools are called widgets, while for PCs they are better known as gadgets, but whatever you call it, the new development is a very useful addition to a media buyer’s tool kit and also will be useful to clients who want to track the success of shows before talking to their agency about a campaign.

While tv insiders will of course have much more detailed information than what is on the widget, the new development shows that the tv industry is keeping ahead of the game in electronic audience measurement.

The widget can display various report formats as seen in this picture.