The question is in itself a comment of the state of affairs, so we’ll reserve any further remarks. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das with a response to our question for the July 28 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…
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Q. Just as the government is engaged in the television audience measurement, should it also get involved in ensuring that IRS happens for print?
A. Are you sure that the government is involved in BARC ratings? I am not aware of it. Even if it is so, I feel it may be due to the number of channels and their lack of convergence on the measurement process. Since a lot investment of advertisers are at stake, the government must have thought of introducing an adjudication process, in the midst of allegations and counter-allegations. The government might have thought that the self-regulation mechanism might not be efficacious enough to put the house of measurements in order. A disclaimer: my assumptions may be far away from reality.
Coming to IRS, I feel there is less internecine war of words. And in case of print medium, the pecking order of market leaders and followers have been established for quite some time. Hence, inspite of absence of IRS data for three years, the pecking order hasn’t changed dramatically. The empirical evidence do not suggest anything contrary, so far as I know (I am not referring to any category-level erosion). I am not suggesting that IRS data is less critical as a decision support system but the advertisers haven’t complained vociferously about its absence, as publishers have consistently maintained their standard and consequently, market specific leadership. Till you specifically raise the reason for government’s involvement in IRS data, I can’t comment. Governments have other pressing issues of the nation to address, I presume.