MxMIndia

Tag: Anuradha Prasad

  • Time spent listening to radio increases to 2.36 hours everyday

    AROI conducts listenership study during lockdown

    By A Correspondent

     

    People trust FM stations as credible sources of info. According to the latest research by AZ Research, people across a sample size of 3300 people among 18+ urban agglomeration population, 82 per cent people have been tuning in to radio during Covid-19, with FM channels emerging as the second-most credible source of information for the masses. As per the research, radio has a credibility score of 6.27, second only to the internet which is at 6.44 and TV at 5.74.

     

    Infact, the radio industry witnesses a listenership of 51 million people, which is nearly as much as television’s reach of 56 million and social media’s reach of 57 million. A few more noteworthy highlights of the research include radio’s at home listenership which has increased by 22 per cent and has grown from 64 to 86 per cent. The time that people spend listening to radio has increased by 23 per cent to 2.36 hours everyday during the lockdown, second only to television. (* Source: All SEC 18 + UA : Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Pune & Hyderabad)

     

    Said Anuradha Prasad, President of the Association of Radio Operators for India (AROI): “Radio has always been a powerful medium to reach the masses at all times. The findings of this study go on to show how important radio is, especially in a country like India. I am immensely grateful for the constant love and support that we have received all through the years. We will collectively keep trying to do our best, even in tough times like these.”

     

    Added Nisha Narayanan, Director and COO, Red FM and Magic FM: “Radio has been playing a much bigger role, it has been able to unite the linguistic and ethnic diversity and connect people from all backgrounds with its numerous arrays of frequency. Radio offers last mile connectivity and the latest findings have proved once again that it’s a powerful and trusted medium to deliver messages to the audience. We would like to thank all our listeners who have supported us and believed in the power of radio.”

     

     

  • The government has no role in television audience measurement. If broadcasters and advertisers don’t have a problem, why should the government poke its nose?

    Government, leave BARC alone!

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    The all-important inauguration of FICCI-Frames 2016 on Wednesday was marred by a sweeping statement by telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Minister Prasad is known to have strong views on measurement in the past too.

     

    Understandable. He has been I&B Minister in the past, and coincidentally his sister Anuradha Prasad runs BAG Films which runs the channels News TV and E24.

     

    Prasad said he wasn’t happy with the performance of TAM in the past and the alternative right now.  We really don’t know why he said that. It’s not that people have not had issues with BARC data. People have had, and the BARC team has cleared the air, and also corrected things if and when needed. One can be sure that BARC Chairman Punit Goenka must have faced some opposition within the Zee group when his channels didn’t fare too well in the first weeks of data releasing. But did he delay the release of the numbers? He didn’t.

     

    Evidently the telecom minister doesn’t agree with the I&B minister who is reported to be happy with the performance of BARC.

     

    We asked BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta for a comment on the minister’s statement. And this is what he said:

     

    “We believe the Hon’ble Minister expressed a view on improvements and changes in TV audience measurement in India with the launch of BARC India’s services.

     

    BARC India strictly follows government guidelines on the matter. We have expanded the coverage – with a doubling of sample homes to 20000 within the first year of launch, and inclusion of rural India for the first time ever. We have plans for expanding the panel as per government guidelines too.

     

    We are a Joint Industry Body and the number of meters are guided by Industry’s affordability and statistical needs. The number is as agreed by all stakeholders of the industry. Industry has welcomed and accepted BARC India data’s robustness and fidelity.”

     

    Frankly, we don’t think BARC must toe the government line. That it is following the guidelines is a bonus. The government has no role in television audience measurement.  Remember, the measurement is done for the benefit of a channel’s content and business teams to understand its viewers and more importantly by advertisers and media agencies who invest loads of advertising $$$s. If the broadcasters and advertisers don’t have a problem, why should the government poke its nose?