MxMIndia

Tag: BARC

  • As the new Chief of Measurement Science & Analytics

    Dr Bikramjit Chaudhuri joins BARC

    Dr Bikramjit Chaudhuri
    Dr Bikramjit Chaudhuri

    Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India has announced the appointment of Dr Bikramjit Chaudhuri as Chief of Measurement Science & Analytics. He will succeed Dr Derrick Gray, who has been a member of the BARC India family for six years. He has been heading measurement science at BARC since mid-2018.

    Dr Bikramjit Chaudhuri is a PhD. from IIT Bombay and holds a Master of Statistics degree from the Indian Statistical Institute. He joins BARC from the Datamatics Group of Companies where he has been Global Head of Data Science and Advanced Analytics, since 2016. Prior to Datamatics, he has held multiple leadership roles, and has led large teams of senior talent across levels at KPMG, Nielsen and ZS Associates in India and elsewhere in the world.

    Said Nakul Chopra, Chief Executive Officer, BARC India: “Derrick has been a wonderful partner, a mentor and a friend to numerous individuals and industry peers. We congratulate him as he embraces his next adventure and wish him nothing but the absolute best. In his stead, I’m happy to welcome Bikram to the BARC India family. He brings deep knowledge and rich expertise in Big Data, Research and Business Intelligence. I’m confident that with his strategic vision and passion for excellence, he will not only uphold the legacy Derrick leaves us with, but also help navigate our future in this fast-evolving environment.”

  • News18 launches ad campaign citing viewership data

    2024: BJP versus I.N.D.I.A. 2023: News channel war hots up

    By Our Staff

     

    The real war will happen next year with the general elections, as the combined (or perhaps not so in spirit) opposition taking on the ruling BJP. But ahead of that, in the run-up to the elections in the five states including the all-important Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan assemblies, News18 India has launched a 360-degree media campaign to showcase its dominance in the Hindi news segment. And more importantly to take on Aaj Tak, leaders and among the earliest entrants in the India private news television space.

     

    The Hindi news channel released a page one ad in all editions of Economic Times to showcase its leadership in the genre. According to a communique which doesn’t quote any spokesperson, the campaign will also go live on digital and social media, with extensive visibility on trade media as well.

     

    As per the ad, the TV data shows that Aaj Tak has captured 0.8 crore lesser AMAs in Week 32 of 2023. Now we don’t know if BARC is fine with use of just one week’s dominance in advertising material, but we leave that to the wisdom of the measurement body and the association of news broadcasters which includes members of a large number of news channels, including Aaj Tak and News18.

     

    On the digital front, the ad says that News18 India received more video views on Facebook compared to Aaj Tak in July. (Source: Crowdtangle, July, 2023). Moreover, News18 India was also ahead of Aaj Tak by 12% in terms of YouTube views last month. (Source: Databeings, Video Views, Stats as of August 5 for all videos uploaded in July, 2023)

     

    We are certain we haven’t heard the last on this war of words and claims, but, as long as the viewer benefits and the broadcasters don’t lose on revenues in the tu-tu-main-main skirmish, we aren’t really complaining.

     

  • … as Chief of Product & Research

    Dolly Jha moves from Nielsen to BARC

    By Our Staff

     

    There is more reason to be delighted to publish this bit of info. It’s possibly the first communique we’ve received from BARC India in over a year. Phew!

     

    Yes, you read it right: in over a year.

     

    But the news is of greater interest because the general buzz around the industry is that all is not too well at the audience measurement firm. In fact there are some very strong rumours of a certain section of broadcasters considering a rival measurement body. But of course running a measurement body needs loads of money and must have the blessings of the entire ecosystem, including advertisers and advertising agencies.

     

    Dolly Jha
    Dolly Jha

    Without further digression, here’s the news of the day: Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC), the world’s largest television audience measurement body (the communique claims… we would also add: possibly the world’s most controversy-ridden measurement body), has announced the appointment of Dolly Jha as its Chief of Product & Research. Jha has experience of close to three decades across Kantar, ITC Foods and Nielsen, where she spent the last 13-odd years.

     

    On her appointment, Jha said: “I am excited to join BARC India as the Chief of Product & Research. BARC today runs the largest Audience Measurement system in the world. With all the experience behind me, I am looking forward to contributing to BARC by evolving the measurement further to meet the growing needs of stakeholders.”

     

    Nakul Chopra
    Nakul Chopra

    Welcoming Jha, Nakul Chopra, CEO, BARC India said in the communique, “It is indeed wonderful that Dolly will join the BARC Leadership Team. As the Chief of Product & Research – she will expectedly bring immense value to our eco-system, both from the perspective of working back from our output, to improve input quality and, over time in helping build value added services that will benefit all our subscribers. Both these vital functions are new capabilities that we seek to add to BARC – given her vast experience, I cannot think of a leader more suited to this role. In her stint at Nielsen, Dolly has already deep exposure and understanding of what BARC does – I am confident that this will augur for an extremely fulfilling partnership. I warmly welcome her and look forward to working closely with her.”

     

  • He joins Dentsu from KPMG where he is a Senior Partner, responsible for overseeing both Clients & Markets and Consumer Markets, Life Sciences & Internet Business

    Dentsu finally gets a CEO from outside. Harsha Razdan is CEO, South Asia

    By Our Staff

     

    If you remember, Dentsu, the advertising and marketing services network, had a series of exits. Topping it all was the exit of big boss Ashish Bhasin. And then started a massive hunt for a CEO. Almost every biggie in the business was met with.

     

    When they couldn’t find anyone, they called in old warhorse Sunil Lulla to stand in.  Lulla had just moved out of BARC and was busy growing his own consulting gigs. But that was till December.

     

    And yesterday (Thursday), Dentsu Asia Pacific announced the appointment of Harsha Razdan as CEO, South Asia. This is effective May 1, 2023. So we will see him at Goafest 2023.

     

    Said Rob Gilby, CEO APAC, Dentsu: “India has been through the most profound and impressive digital transformation and the future of the digital economy is bright; with new opportunities being generated by the advent of 5G, proliferation of affordable devices, and the development of a new economy accessible to all,” adding: “Harsha is an exceptional leader with a deep strategic understanding of the competitive landscape. His background in brand building, overlayed with deep knowledge of tech-driven transformation brings formidable cross-capability expertise and will drive growth opportunities in creating a new value ecosystem for clients with consumers at the centre.”

     

    Added Razdan on his appointment: “It is a very exciting time to be leading an agency network in India, especially with the significant progress we are seeing in the digital development of our market and what that means for brands. India is leap-frogging other markets in its adoption and development of new technologies, and it’s critical that agencies are capitalising on new opportunities for brands to speak to new consumers. I can’t wait to get started.”

     

    Razdan has worked with PepsiCo and Unilever, and consulting practices including Accenture where he spent four years in the UK. He joins Dentsu from KPMG where he is a Senior Partner, responsible for overseeing both Clients & Markets and Consumer Markets, Life Sciences & Internet Business. He also sits on the Advisory Leadership team as well as the Global Consumer & Retail leadership team.  He will be based in Mumbai reporting to Rob Gilby, CEO APAC, dentsu.

     

  • Digital and social media allow advertising to work with not the Big Bad Idea and Small Bad Ideas, writes Ashoke Agarrwal

    An Ode to Bad Advertising

     

     

    By Ashoke Agarrwal

     

    Ashoke AgarrwalImagine a world without bad advertising.

    Where else would 80% of the advertising and ad sales world find gainful employment?

    Furthermore, research has proven (sort of a la BARC) that bad advertising causes channel switching that contributes to a more equitable distribution between cable channels. And equality, as the pundits tell us, is not something to be sneezed at, market economy or not.

    In his masterpiece “infinite Jest”, the much-lauded and laudanum-loaded David Foster Wallace posits that bad advertising sublimely promotes sales. He hypothesises a kind of mental jujitsu in the viewer’s mind that transfers and transforms the effect of bad advertising into a compensatory admiration of the brand’s gall leading to sales – a result of the Stockholm syndrome transported to the marketing world – a coping mechanism to a captive or abusive situation.

    Mr Wallace’s insight has helped me resolve a professional puzzle. Why do big, successful brands that control 80% of advertising put out advertising that is 99% bad? Now I know marketing and brand managers are much wiser and more insightful than I thought. So perhaps there is a case to be made for making “Infinite Jest” required reading in marketing and advertising courses. After all, we want to propagate and nurture the proliferation of bad advertising well into the future to keep unemployment in check, equity in the media world and market leaders in the gravy.

    This brings me to advertising awards and the worthies who judge them. Imagine their plight if bad advertising ceased to exist! Not only would their load increase, but it would rob them with the opportunity to reward and award their core fraternity – the confederacy of the mediocre and the smug.

    Let me take a broader societal view. In the doom and gloom of the post-pandemic, on the brink of World War, inflation-ravaged, crime-infested world, bad advertising allows us to think – “Ah! Here is at least one insufferable thing I can easily switch away from”. And that’s why society needs more bad advertising to offer more frequent relief to its suffering people.

    To dig a little deeper, is there a degree of badness in advertising?

    For example, it is the kind of advertising that damages the family relationships of the creative hack who acknowledges creating it worse than the insidious, long-running campaign that has haunted the world for years.

    Is a case to be made for Razzies in advertising to counter the usual annual awards to mediocrity? Usually, the world thinks of countering mediocrity with excellence. However, shouldn’t we, in our admiration of the all-around utility of lousy advertising, focus on countering mediocrity from the aft?

    Bad advertising has a love-and-hate relationship with the digital and social media world. Digital and social media allow advertising to work with not the Big Bad Idea and Small Bad Ideas. And as digital and social media continue their march to dominance, advertising might soon proclaim, “The Big Idea is Dead! Long Live the Small Big Idea!!”

    However, while digital and social media have made the purveyors of bad advertising that much more productive, they have also created intense competition. A whole army of content creators is now competing with bad advertising regarding the degree of badness and flow intensity. Bad advertising has, to some extent, sought to co-opt this trend with (bad) influencer marketing.

    Finally, here is a word of advice to the millions of young people seeking to make a career in advertising. Go right ahead. Some among you, the truly creative and passionate kind, will fight a righteous battle until you leave with honour intact for other worlds. Others, savvier and flexible, will find their niche in the big, bad proliferating world of advertising. Either way, you are in for an exciting time.

    PS: I have been in the world of advertising now for decades. I have seen it change from being a field of creativity to being a business vendor. This article is a satire that allows me to vent as I continue to fight the good fight to get advertising back to its core function – to build lasting brands that increase the sum total of happiness in the world.

     

    Ashoke Agarrwal writes on the confluence of technology and marketing. He writes on MxMIndia on alternate Thursdays. His views here are personal

     

  • Indrani Sen sums up It is doubtful if we will see another such eventful and colourful decade of ups and downs in M&E industry in the near future

    Looking Back at the last 11 Years

     

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    Indrani SenThe second decade of the twenty-first century was perhaps the most eventful phase in the history of the Indian M&E industry, where Indian media played a significant part in transforming Indian economy. When www.mxmIndia was launched in 2011, Indian the M&E industry had just come out of the effects of the economic slowdown of 2008-09 and a new beginning, the start of a digital metamorphosis was looming large on its horizon. Marketers and advertisers were looking forward to the implementation of the Digital Addressable System (DAS) which would transform the regional footprints of the TV channels to national; the only glitch was the delay in execution of Phase 3 of FM Radio.

     

    The three totally different events of 2011 which sums up the whole year beautifully are: the Indian Cricket Team winning the Cricket World Cup which was celebrated across all households in India; the anti-corruption campaign started by Anna Hazare which flooded the country as a movement and last but not the least: the release of the song Kolaveri Di which broke all records by going viral on the first day of its release. All these incidents had one common thread: the power of mass media, both traditional and digital.

     

    In 2012, the digital metamorphosis continued and dream of reaching and engaging with the significantly diverse, one billion strong Indian customers became a reality. The theme for the FICCI Frames 2013 conclave was ‘A Tryst with Destiny: Engaging a Billion Consumers’. However, a global slowdown of economic growth affected the Indian market and advertising expenditure again took a dip. A grewsome incident of rape resulted in the ‘Nirbhaya’ protest movement followed by women’s safety campaigns across traditional and social media and gained widespread awareness and support. The social issues were the main focus of the year 2012, supported by the TV programme Satyamev Jayate; movies like OMG and Vicky Donor; campaigns like Lead India and Teach India, all highlighted various social issues and proved again the power of mass media, both traditional and digital.

     

    In 2013, it was clear that “the Stage is set” for the gradual process of triumph of digital media (which has been around since 1995) though all the traditional media ranging from television to newspapers to films to radio to outdoor continued to connect with various touchpoints in the lives of the Indian consumers. The roll out of DAS in Phase I and II cities were largely completed by December 2013 and the process of digitisation across the sub-sectors of the M & E industry continued but monetising the digital content remained a challenge.  Sony Liv and Ditto TV (ZEE) were launched in 2013 marking the beginning of the OTT explosion in India.

     

    The next year – 2014 – saw a new government at the centre after a successful general election followed by a marked positive shift in investor’s interest for investing in India. However, in the domestic market there were various unresolved issues like implementation of DAS as the deadline for completing the implementation in Phase III and Phase IV cities got extended to December 2015 and December 2016 respectively. Still, the FICCI KPMG Report was optimist about the future growth of M&E industry and estimated the industry to grow from INR 1026 billion in 2014 to INR 1964 billion in 2019 a CAGR of 13.9% over next five years.

     

    A new era of TV ratings began in India with BARC releasing its first report in April 2015 and by the end of the year they announced their intention of reporting rural TV ratings which would later change the hierarchy of TV channels. Print, which had the largest share of advertising revenue till 2014, finally lost its crown to TV in 2015 (Source FICCI KPMG reports). The entire focus of growth in digital media shifted to the mobile sector as it became absolutely clear that mobile would be the backbone of digital India. Of the 331 internet subscribers, around 200 were mobile internet users. India’s mobile market with over 500 million active subscribers, but had less than 200 million smartphones and low-end phones known as feature phones dominated the market. It also became clear by 2015 that the Central Government had its own rules about allowing criticism of its various policies in mass media. As a result, news media, particularly News TV got clearly aligned to the ruling political party and began taking sides, which was not the characteristics of Indian media.

     

    The year 2016 was marked by the banknote demonetisation at the end of the year which had ripple effects on the entire economy. Jio mobile phone service was launched publicly in September, 2016 which quickly changed the Indian mobile network scenario in the next couple of years. The implementation of GST in 2017 which saw certain adverse effect on the revenue of traditional media. In 2017, the growth in M&E sector was led by digital, film, gaming and events while in TV subscription growth outpaced growth in advertising. Traditional print media began to lose young genres of readers to digital news rapidly.

     

    In 2018 and 2019, the overall growth in M&E sector continued to be led by online gaming and digital. These were two good years for Indian advertising industry. The BJP government at the centre was re-elected in 2019 having a positive impact on trade and commerce.  The last Indian Readership Survey was released in 2019 showing TV reached 77% of Indians above 12 years of age against 37% reached by newspapers. However, towards the end of 2019, the whole world saw a new pandemic, Covid-19, which shook up economies and affected business growth across all countries. In India, the National Lockdown declared at a short notice by the Prime Minister towards the end of March 2020, severely affected all business sectors and M&E industry also suffered severely. Indian Print media, which was heavily dependent on the last mile delivery by hawkers, was impacted hugely.

     

    In 2020, we saw the beginning of the work from home culture, which changed the consumption pattern across media almost overnight. The viewing of content on OTT platforms went up significantly turning the linear TV viewing scenario upside down. Print continued to struggle with both subscription and advertising revenues. Event industry had a most severe setback followed by outdoor, cinema and radio.  The severe degrowth of all traditional media however did not get extended to digital media and online gaming. At the end of the year, it was found that M&E sector performed much worse than Indian economy and it was estimated that it will take 2 to 5 years for traditional media to get back their pre-pandemic advertising revenue of 2019.

     

    In 2021, the M&E industry regained some of its lost business, but the second and the third waves of Covid-19 did not allow proper growth of the sector. The current year, 2022 promises to be a better year with PMAR and TYNY respectively predicting 20% and 22% growth in total advertising revenue. Advertising and Media agencies also are bullish about their business growth. The agency sector had a tough time during the last decade with stress on margins and commissions. Another trend which became prevalent over the last 11 years was large agencies acquiring or tying up with smaller specialised agencies, even promising start ups. Talent and training have become two issues with agencies in spite of the mushrooming of MBA institutes teaching advertising and media.

     

    It is doubtful if we will see another such eventful and colourful decade of ups and downs in M&E industry in the near future. www.mxmindia.com has been closely associated with this interesting phase and has flourished as a platform for exchange of independent views and opinions over the last 11 years. I am proud to be associated with website since 2016.

     

  • Lulla will be on board wef April 4 and will work with the business until Dentsu India hires a permanent CEO. 

    Sunil Lulla joins Dentsu as Consultant Advisor for India

    By Our Staff

     

    Sunil Lulla
    Peter Huijboom
    Peter Huijboom

    Dentsu has announced the appointment of industry veteran Sunil Lulla as Consultant Advisor for India. Lulla will work closely with, and report into, Peter Huijboom, Interim CEO, Dentsu India to focus on driving business growth and activation in the market while continuing the search for the right candidate to lead the Dentsu India business. Lulla will be on board wef April 4 and will work with the business until Dentsu India hires a permanent CEO.

    Commenting on the appointment, Huijboom said: “Sunil is joining us at a critical time as we realise the benefits of our transformation through our integrated offering. He has had an impressive career with significant achievements in the businesses he has worked with, and I am looking forward to our partnership. We see significant opportunity in the India market and I am pleased with the momentum we are seeing. Sunil will continue to accelerate our growth trajectory while working with our teams to define, activate and ignite Dentsu’s winning culture in the market. It’s an exciting time to be at Dentsu India.”

    Added Lulla: “I am thrilled to participate in Denstu India’s growth and transformation journey. I could not refuse an opportunity to work with a business that is relentlessly focused on shaping their own business to help clients navigate the changing market context and pioneer a new way forward. I am excited to partner with Peter and build on the progress made with the leadership team, being a part of the team that works together to transform into the agency of tomorrow.”

    An MBA from SP Jain Institute, Lulla has spent long and successful years in advertising, broadcast and digital. He spent 11 years in JWT in India, China and Taiwan, three years at HMV (now Saregama), three years at MTV India which he turned around, a year at Diageo, two years at Indya.com, three years at Sony Entertainment and then eight years as CEO and MD of the Times Television Network. Later he spent nearly four years as CMD of Grey Group India before making the switch to Balaji where he was there for a year-and-a-half. He took charge as CEO of television audience measurement body BARC in October 2019.

  • Sinha is also actively involved in various industry bodies such as the ASCI

    Shashi Sinha appointed as new BARC India Chairman

    By Our Staff

     

    Shashi Sinha, Chief Executive Officer at IPG Mediabrands India, has been unanimously elected as new Chairman of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC India) by the Board following its meeting held on March 25, 2022.

     

    Sinha, who also represents the Advertising Agencies Association of India as its Board member, has played a key role in the formation of BARC. He takes over from Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., who served as Chairman for the last three years.

     

    Sinha is also actively involved in various industry bodies such as the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI, Past Chairman of Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), Past President of The Ad Club, Current Chairman of Media Research Users Council (MRUC) and till very recently, before becoming a Board member, was the first Chairman of the Technical Committee of BARC India. He is also a member of the Facebook India Client Council.

     

    Speaking on the appointment, Sinha said: “I am excited to be given this opportunity as the Chairman of BARC at a time when the industry is undergoing many changes and the measurement body continues to grow. Over the last decade, BARC has evolved to become a robust currency and developed into a strong base for decision making for all stakeholders. I look forward to continue working with the team at BARC and I am confident that together we will be able to add and bring in more value to the broadcast ecosystem.”

     

    Added outgoing chairman Punit Goenka: “It has been a privilege to lead and serve BARC India as the Chairman, for two terms. The organisation has indeed grown and progressed substantially since its inception. I would like to welcome Shashi as he takes the helm of an industry-critical operation in a fast-changing landscape. I am sure that BARC India will soar to newer heights under his guidance. I also wish Nakul and the team at BARC all the very best”.

     

    Said Nakul Chopra, CEO, BARC India: “We would like to thank Mr Goenka, who has also been the Founder Chairman of BARC India, playing an instrumental role in setting up this measurement system. His strategic guidance and contribution made to BARC India, as its Chairman for two tenures, has added immense value,” adding:  “It gives us great pleasure to welcome Mr Sinha as our new Chairman. He is recognised for his deep understanding of the media industry, especially the broadcast sector and has been an integral part of BARC’s journey as well as India’s M&E industry. It was under his leadership that the BARC Tech Comm played a significant role in the formation of the world’s largest television measurement system. We look forward to working closely with him.”

     

  • None of the channels were technically lying in their claims of being numero uno, they were just looking at TG cuts that suited them, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    The Façade of Being #1

     

     

     

     

    Shailesh KapoorBy Shailesh Kapoor

     

    Last week, news channel ratings were released after a long hiatus. What followed was bizarre, to say the least. Within a few hours, multiple channels had staked their claim for the no. 1 position. Between Hindi and English news genres itself, I read mailers and trade stories from at least seven channels claiming to be #1.

     

    The communication was not restricted to the trade. Channels went on air with their claims. You may have already seen Arnab Goswami’s self-congratulatory video from the day, in which he takes digs at competition while he finishes his 10,000 steps for the day, addressing Living Media as “Tak waalon” repeatedly.

     

    That video is funny at one level, but sad at another. The return of news ratings should have been an industry moment. A positive step towards better times ahead, where advertisers can make more informed choices. Instead, it was reduced to a game of one-upmanship. Other channels were not as shrill as Goswami. But the ideas were similar, nonetheless.

     

    This is all perception play, of course. None of the channels were technically “lying”. They were just looking at TG cuts that suited them. You can play with gender, age, NCCS and markets, and there are at least 120+ possible ‘reasonable’ combinations to choose from. In English News, where the reach is limited, it is quite possible that almost every channel will find itself being ranked #1 in at least one of these combinations.

     

    I often wonder how these trade campaigns make any sense. Surely, the advertisers know better by now. They have access to the same data. The senior planners are seasoned enough to see through this trickery of numbers. And yet, the mailers, the stories and the on-air coverage only gets more visible each year. It’s perhaps a case of channels doing this just to build the morale of the editorial and the sales teams. It’s that Arnab-type brouhaha that they may be going for, inside their respective offices, even when the cameras are not recording.

     

    This time, so many trade publications carried press releases on news ratings as they were. In an emailer from one of the websites, there were three stories, next to each other, from three different channels, all claiming to be #1. I have a theory that if you send some incomprehensible gobbledygook in the form of a press release, some of our trade websites will still carry it.

     

    The onus, in this case, should lie with BARC India. I find their advisories on usage of ratings data for sales and marketing to be loose and non-committal. BARC India could, and perhaps rightly, argue that which TG a channel selects is not their business. But in a genre that has come out of a ratings blackout that went on for a year and a half, BARC India can surely play a more active role in maintaining sanity.

     

    Because, by now, we should know that our news channels couldn’t care less about sanity.

     

    Shailesh Kapoor is Founder and CEO, Ormax Media. He writes on MxMIndia every Friday. His views here are personal

     

    Editor’s Note: As a policy, MxMIndia has not published any news around the rankings of any news channels since the day of release on March 17, 2022. We will wait for data release for at least four weeks before doing that. However, we do carry advertising mailers and banner ads of news channels. While we appreciate that as a responsible media platform, we are liable for ALL content we serve, all entities advertising with us are governed by the laws of the land and the advertising is subject to scrutiny by the Advertising Standards Council of India and the respective trade bodies. In the specific case of television ratings, the industry-owned body BARC also has a clear policy on how the data can be used in promotional communication.

     

  • The re-start of ratings comes at a time when most annual deals for TV channels are negotiated, writes Indrani Sen

    Will BARC’s new policy for news ratings clear the mess?

     

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    Indrani SenThe announcement was long overdue. Finally on last Thursday, the advertising and media industry was glued to the release of TV news channels’ ratings which was released by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) after 17 months starting with Week 10, 2022.

     

    BARC announced that an Augmented Data Reporting Standards for news and special Interest genres has been developed and tested over some weeks before releasing the ratings to the industry. The revised approved standards prescribes that the audience estimates for these genres will be released every week based on a rolling average of ratings of 4-weeks to meet with the industry’s needs. BARC briefed their shareholders in details about the new method through webinar and Q&A sessions.

     

    The release of the ratings for week 10, 2022 was followed by the release of the past data for the previous 13 weeks from Week 49, 2021 to Week 9, 2022 though the ratings were not available from week 40, 2020 to week 9, 2021. It is to be noted that the channels within the news and special interest genre subscribing for BARC ratings were given an option to opt out form getting the details of the past data and consequently they have been clubbed together as “other channels” in the reports of the past 13 weeks.

     

    The renewal of reporting of the ratings of the news channels has come at a time when most of the annual deals for TV channels across different genres are planned and negotiated. Lately the free to air news channels have been up in arms against BARC accusing them of delaying tactics by not releasing the ratings of the news channels before the crucial period when decisions about annual distribution of TV ad revenues are made. BARC defended themselves with the argument that data processing as per the new methods and testing of the data had to be given adequate time.

     

    The document on ‘Policy for Augmented Data Reporting Standards for News & Special Interest Genres’ is available on the website of BARC India and clarifies the definitions of

    1. Genre-Language Classification of Channels and

    2. Definition of News and Special Interest Genres

     

    It also details out Augmented Data Reporting Standards which has been developed “In order to preserve data security and integrity and keep the cadence of advertisement planning consistent for all channels” (Source: https://www.barcindia.co.in/policy-updates/barc-india-policy-for-augmented-data-reporting-standards.pdf)

     

    Every week, BARC will release two databases of which the currency data will be a “4-week rolling average channel level audience estimates for the News and Special Interest genres and regular daily unrolled audience estimates for all other genres/channels.” This currency data will be available to all subscribers in the YUMI software and will be used for all transactions including rate negotiations. The second database will be weekly unrolled data and will be released only to broadcasters having one or more channels in the news and special interest category through a separate YUMI database and license. The broadcasters will only get to see the unrolled data for their own channels and not for their competitive channels. This unrolled data cannot be used for transactional purpose, but only for analysis of performance of own channels and future planning for the same. Many features of the currency data will not be available for the unrolled data. Respondent Level Data (RLD) audience estimate will be available for the news channels only on a rolling average of 4 weeks basis and under currency data and will not be given under unrolled data.

     

    The new policy has provision for Customized Event Reports (CER) with well defined target groups for different genres. It also provides Currency Data Usage Guidelines to the news and special interest genres. Finally, it has provisions for News Query Resolution for Current & Past Data with rules and regulations applicable for the same.

     

    On the whole, it seems that BARC India has come up with a technology driven solution for taking care of the issues of high variance and bounce found earlier in the audience estimates of News and Special Interest genre channels. The problem was largely related to low sample size tuned to these channels and their specific target audiences. Let us hope that this new policy would satisfy the channels in the News and Special Interest genre and will end their grievances against BARC India.

     

     

  • We are sure there will be claims and counter-claims once the BARC numbers are out for news channels next week. Let’s read what Dr Bhaskar Das says in Das ka Dum dated March 11. Read on…

    Das ka Dum by Dr Bhaskar Das | BARC news ratings will revive next week. Should one really care given that despite no numbers, it was business as usual?

    Bhaskar Das

    We are sure there will be claims and counter-claims once the BARC numbers are out for news channels next week. Let’s read what Dr Bhaskar Das says in Das ka Dum dated March 11. Read on…

     

     

    If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar.

     

    Q.BARC news ratings will revive next week. Should one really care given that despite no numbers, it was business as usual?

     

    A. Data-driven ecosystems are a hygiene reality for any business for enriching the quality of decision-making. BARC ratings are important for this reason only, apart from other adjacent directionalities. So active practitioners in the relevant A&M industry would be interested in BARC data release. The data improves the quality of decision-making,  directly or indirectly, for all concerned.

     

  • There was a 22% increase over 2020 and 18% over 2019 as per the BARC Think Report

    TV Ad volumes post double digit growth in 2021: BARC

     

     

    By our Staff

     

    The year 2020 was a subdued one for television advertising, leading to a decline in total Ad Volumes across the year despite the record stay-at-home rise in viewership. 2021 has bounced back with a substantial double-digit spike, delivering an all-time high of 1824 million seconds of Ad Volumes during the year. This translated into a 22% and 18% growth over 2020 and 2019, respectively. The Top 10 advertisers accounted for 780 million seconds of Ad Volumes, and the Next 40 accounted for 340 million seconds.

     

    FMCG brands continued to lead in share across categories and Hindi channels continued to dominate across languages.

     

    New advertisers and brands consistently jumped in throughout the year, thus playing an important role in the advertising volume growth witnessed throughout 2021.

     

    Commenting on BARC India’s latest Think Report, 2021 – A Voluminous Year (Yearly Ad Volume Report 2021) that analyses television advertising volumes for the past year, Aaditya Pathak, Head – Client Partnership & Revenue Function, BARC India said: “2021 certainly brought in much needed cheer to the broadcast industry. The year started off on a positive note and also ended on a high with the festive quarter. Year on year, despite pandemic impediments, television has repeatedly proved effective for every penny spent for advertisers and brands. 2021 saw over 9000 advertisers turn to television with a significant number of new entrants. Overall, 2021 was a positive year for the industry as a whole that witnessed growing value for both advertisers and broadcasters.”

     

    Here are highlights of the report:

     

    Advertisers & Brands Count

    TV had a total of 9239 advertisers and 14616 brands advertised on the medium in 2021, of which, 49% i.e., 4483 were either new advertisers or returning ones. Similarly, for brands, 51% i.e., 7470 were new or returning brands.

     

    Categories

    The FMCG category continued to lead with an enormous share of 1117 million seconds of Ad Volumes in 2021, followed by Ecommerce with 185 million seconds and Building, Industrial, & Land Materials/Equipments with 60 million seconds. Television also understandably continued to be an important medium for the Corporate Brand Image category which registered 2x growth over 2019 with 24 million seconds.

     

    The Ecommerce category had a total of 587 advertisers in 2021 of which, 65% were new entrants or earlier advertisers returning to TV in 2021, registering a growth of 51% over 2020 and 26% over 2019. Media/Entertainment/Social Media, Education, Online Shopping, Matrimonials and Financial Services were the top 5 sub-categories within Ecommerce. Ad Volumes for Education grew by 461% and Financial Services by 153% over 2020.

     

    Languages

    While Hindi continues to play a dominant part of the language mix, regional language channels recorded strong growth as well across 2021. Ad Volumes for Bhojpuri language channels doubled over 2019 and Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati and Assamese language channels posted over 40% growth over 2019. South language channels i.e., Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada, grew by 26% over 2020.

     

    2021 – Quarterly Analysis

    Q1 2021 kickstarted on a positive note having registered 24% growth over 2020 and 21% growth over 2019. Despite the sporadic and partial lockdowns on account of the second wave of COVID-19, Ad Volumes for Q2’ 21 were relatively higher at 417 million seconds as compared to Q2’19 which recorded 399 million seconds. Q4’21 brought in cheer for broadcasters with a bumper festive season that recorded 489 million seconds of Ad Volumes, the highest quarter ever. New advertisers continued to flock to television for effective communication with Q4’21 welcoming 2156 new advertiser or earlier ones returning to the medium, the highest for the year.

     

    After a marginal decline in Q2 2021 on account of the lockdowns, regional language channels experienced steady growth in Q3 and Q4.

     

    SD & HD Channels

    Ad Volumes for HD channels in 2021 grew by 11% over the previous year and SD channels grew by 22% in 2021 over 2020 and by 20% over 2019.

     

    TV Commercials

    TV commercials with an Average Commercial Duration of under 30 seconds, were most favoured by advertisers while spots more than 60 seconds were least preferred.  The Average Commercial Duration has been reducing Y-O-Y. The Prime-Time band, i.e., 20:00 hours to 24:00 hours enjoyed the maximum share of Ad Volumes at 27%. The share of Ad Volumes for the four time bands, viz 08:00 – 12:00 hrs, 12:00-16:00 hrs, 16:00-20:00 hrs and 20:00-24:00 hrs, continued to stay the same since 2019. TV Commercials in local languages on regional channels are consistently increasing since 2019.

     

    IPL 2021

    IPL 2021 registered a total of 1680 thousand seconds of Ad Volumes with 119 advertisers and 228 brands in all. There were 59 new advertisers and 158 new brands for the season. The Top 10 advertisers for the season contributed 35% of the Ad Volumes.

     

    Tokyo Olympics

    With 466 thousand seconds, Ad Volumes for the Tokyo Olympics were almost at par with Rio Olympics that was held in 2016. There were 34 advertisers and 61 brands that advertised during Tokyo Olympics. Significantly, 31% of the Ad Volumes during Tokyo Olympics featured Olympians.