The National Media Institute (KIM) plans to study the population of Ukrainians in the country and start measuring media consumption of this group, including television. For the time being, such a study is not planned by Nielsen, which measures television viewership for the entire market. The availability of data on Ukrainians will depend on the extension of coverage by Ukrainian channels to Polish pay TV operators.

Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the population of Ukrainians living in Poland has increased. Before the war, there were 1.5 million of them, and in April the Union of Polish Metropolises estimated that this number had grown to 3.2 million (it may have fallen again recently). Ukrainian channels are also included in the offer of pay TV operators and streaming services.

However, neither Ukrainians living in Poland, nor channels targeting Ukrainians are covered by peoplemeters research, which makes it difficult to expand their reach by new operators or create local content and advertisements for Ukrainian citizens living in Poland. In the Nielsen panel, people from Ukraine are one-off cases. “The condition for recruiting a panelist is, among others: living in a given place for at least 6 months and using the Polish language. Therefore, if there is such a person in the household (most often it is a spouse), the household as a whole can be included in the panel," Lucyna Koba, Client Service Director at Nielsen, told WM.pl.

The situation may change thanks to the National Media Institute, which wants to include Ukrainians living in Poland in its establishment study. “The study will start with the characterization of the population of Ukrainian emigrants in Poland. This group will be described in terms of socio-demographics, and the sources and devices used to receive media by Ukrainians living in Poland will also be described. The description of the population will be spread over time, because it should be remembered that the dynamics of immigration from Ukraine to Poland is changing due to the development of the situation in this country,” KIM commented.

Ultimately, Ukrainians living in Poland would be part of the panel on which TV audience survey. “The research conducted by the Institute will be based on passive measurement, diaries and daily DAR (Day After Recall) measurement. Mainly, the consumption of Ukrainian channels broadcasting in Poland will be examined, but also the consumption of Polish channels watched by Ukrainians in Poland,” added the KIM press office. The panel created by KIM already has 3000 households, the first results of the passive survey are to be known in the fall. The National Media Institute argues that "the research project enjoys great interest on the part of Polish broadcasters, the Ukrainian government, the scientific community, as well as stakeholders from Ukraine planning campaigns in Ukrainian channels broadcasting in Poland".