MxMIndia

Tag: BARC

  • At the CII CEOs' roundtable on broadcast, I&B Minister Manish Tewari mooted the idea of a 'techno-commercial' regulator for the broadcast sector

    Think aloud for a Broadcast Regulator: Manish Tewari

    By A Correspondent

     

    Manish Tewari

    Reiterating the government’s commitment for smooth cable TV digitization and protecting consumer interests, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Manish Tewari has asked the broadcast industry to ‘think aloud’ for a separate broadcast regulator.

     

    Speaking at the 4th CII CEOs’ roundtable on broadcast, the minister mooted the idea of a ‘techno-commercial’ regulator for the broadcast sector, which is witnessing rapid changes in the wake of cable TV digitization. He also made it clear that content will not be regulated by the government.

     

    Mr Tewari said that a viable measurement system for assessing audience tastes and preferences would enable the broadcasting industry to position sustainable revenue models. The broadcasting industry needed to initiate immediate steps for setting up the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), he said, adding that the digitization process had created a model where the given database emerging from the process could be analyzed and expanded exponentially. The government was willing to provide this data to an industry-created body. This body in turn could utilize the data for use in the public space. The initiation of this industry-led process would ensure a two-way flow of information necessary for analyzing advertising trends and models.

     

    KVL Narayan Rao, Executive Vice Chairperson, NDTV Ltd outlined how for some broadcasters, carriage fees remains burdensome and subscription revenues are not forthcoming as yet. “Issues such as TRAI regulation on 12-minute ad cap are the issues that need to be deliberated upon,” he said.

     

    Elaborating further, the Mr Tewari said that there had to be a balance between the evolution of technology and the regulatory architecture. In view of the changes taking place in the broadcasting space, a discussion was necessary within the industry regarding the need of a regulator on techno-commercial grounds. Referring to the digitization mechanism, he said that all stakeholders had to ensure that they work together for creating an enabling environment. “This is critical in view of the consumer being the biggest stakeholder and end-beneficiary. The government is aware of the needs of the consumer and desires that the whole process of implementation ought to be done causing the least pain to the biggest beneficiary, ie the consumer. Digitization as a process has to be viewed as a game changer as far as the media landscape in this country is concerned, as benefits will accrue to all the stakeholders involved and each plays a vital role in the growth of the industry,” he said.

     

    In a major relief to broadcast channels, Mr Tewari maintained that a solution would be brought about to the TRAI’s recent regulation barring television channels from telecasting more than 12 minutes of advertisements every hour. He said the broadcast landscape is changing in the country with digitization, and this issue of fixing time slots for advertisements will be taken up at an appropriate time. He also expressed concern over the TAM TRP data and said that the BARC should be created at the earliest.

     

    Uday Kumar Varma, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, said that the entire exercise of digitization was to bring out a transparent mechanism, credible subscriber data and finally ensure that the dividends of digitization reach the end consumers. “We have discarded a system which was not transparent and are moving towards a system which has to be transparent,” he said.

     

    The government favoured domestic manufacturing and deployment of set-top box and may also consider fixing certain percentage (for domestic manufacturers) for reaching out to the next 50 million consumers in the subsequent phases of digitization, Mr Varma said, and requested domestic set-top box manufactures to match up with quality, price, and competitive standards as acceptable to MSOs.

     

    The ministry is also looking at the status of channel aggregators, in the wake of queries on their ‘legal status’ in the digitization process.

     

  • Faceless, identity-less statistics – or the very centre of all analytical exercises? It's time to give viewers their due

    Paritosh Joshi: Ratings need reinventing

    By Paritosh Joshi

     

    A story on this site published in May 2012, “TAM to cross 10,000 Peoplemeter mark soon”, signalled TAM’s intention to substantially deepen its coverage as India’s television footprint continued relentless growth.

     

    It brought to mind a conversation I had with senior TAM personnel a few years ago where they explained to me the mammoth scale of the data processing task that tracking viewership involved. Here is a simplistic way of looking at it:

    1 2 3 4
    Homes Viewers (Age 4+) per home Average daily time spent (seconds) Unique data points (1. x 2. X 3.)
    10,000 4 14,400 576,000,000

     

    A single day’s dataset has very near 0.6 billion unique data points. Given that ratings are released weekly, the ratings tables that you read are compiled after compiling information from ~4 billion data points.

     

    Let us now throw in a comparison with another medium we are all familiar with: Facebook. In September 2012, Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook’s acquiring its 1 billionth subscriber. Over a half of these are active in a given week and post at a steady rate of 3 updates a day. That’s 1.5 billion updates a day or 10.5 billion a week.

     

    In both cases we are talking about really large numbers. The difference is what happens next.

     

    TAM crunches all the 4 billion data points down to 1 second granularity viewership trends for each channel that it tracks. That gives you, say, 400 channels being tracked. Facebook, taking a radically different view, starts trying to triangulate what are the likes, dislikes, interests and affiliations of each one of 1 billion individuals.

     

    In the TAM view of the world, individuals are faceless, identity-less statistics who vote with their eyes for different channels and shows. In the Facebook view of the world, individuals are the very center of all analytical exercises helping the company offer individually tailored suggestions for everything from whom they should seek out to make friends with through what they ought to be buying.

     

    The difference is telling. The legacy medium places the content at the centre of the analysis plan, the new age one, the consumer. While the first plan crunches a large dataset down to a relatively compact tabulation, the second embraces the concept of ‘Big Data’ where datasets going into the Exabyte order of magnitude (an Exabyte is 1 billion gigabytes) are routine.

     

    Ratings have been around from times when mechanized data processing was in its infancy and the first task before any database manager was reducing and compressing voluminous data into a few large chunks that could then be subjected to analysis. In the specific case of television viewership, an easy was to construct a histogram that plotted the number of viewers against each channel and program. This histogram would then be projected up from the sample to the population to yield an estimate of the percentage of people who watched a particular program: the rating. Since this was the only way in which we had ever seen television viewership being tracked and reported we found nothing odd or inadequate about it. Even today, when digital media enable us to target individuals with very precisely defined characteristics, we still don’t challenge the rather coarse approach that ratings take.

     

    So here is a thought: It is time for television measurement to place the viewer at the centre of the measurement system.

     

    The advent of digitization in India’s television landscape throws up an interesting possibility. If a return path from subscriber to distribution platform is natively available, as it is in digital cable systems or is bolted on using various modes of internet access, as it is in DTH, it becomes possible to know continuously what channel the set top box is tuned to. Techniques like Data Fusion and Ascription (dealt with in a previous column that you can find here) make it possible to marry set top box data with respondent level Peoplemeter data thus magnifying it to large digitally connected populations, within defined levels of statistical error. It is now possible, provided we already have access to cable or DTH operators’ subscriber lists, to develop very good estimates of the viewership behaviours of individual consumers.

     

    In effect, we can tell, within defined levels of error, what an individual in a digital cable or DTH home consumes on television through the day. We now have a view that is viewer centred rather than channel/programme centred. This is where the ‘Big Data’ approach must come in. The massive datasets that are born of the union of Peoplemeter and Set Top Box data need Big Data tools to be managed sensibly. Mining the datasets using these tools can yield an unprecedented level of textured understanding and individually addressable propositions.

     

    And given that digital distribution platforms now have the ability to push messages and suggestions to the viewer, just like online media do, we can use such insights to deliver unique marketing messages, whether for broadcast content or for client brands.

     

    Come on then, BARC, put that viewer at the centre.

     

    Paritosh Joshi has been a marketer, a mediaperson and a key officebearer on industry bodies. He is developing an independent media advisory practice. His column, Media Matrix, appears on MxMIndia, usually on Thursdays

     

  • The success of BARC lies in building consensus among all the stakeholders, comments Joydip Kapadia, Business Head, TV Street Maps

    By Invitation | Joydip Kapadia: BARC takes its first step

    By Joydip Kapadia

     

    As they say “A journey of a thousand steps starts with a single step…“

     

    BARC has issued a Request For Information (RFI). The RFI seeks ideas and capabilities from varied solution vendors (perhaps Research cos as well as Tech cos) to give their inputs on how they would approach TV Measurement. This presumably sets the ball rolling for precisely why it came into existence. This is but one step in the several layers that need to be laid before the final system is set up.

     

    The Three Fundamental Questions

    In the design of a system as complicated and consensus-based as TV Measurement, there are always multiple facets to look at and analyze. The three critical areas to address for any joint industry initiative at this stage are:-

     

    1. Industry Leadership Vision (awaited)

    2. User Requirements, Feedback (awaited)

    3. Vendor Capabilities  (this is the current RFI issued by BARC)

     

    Awaiting BARC’s Vision

    One is also hoping for a vision statement that puts clearly on the table BARCs ambitions. What will be the expanse of coverage in terms of geography, target groups, pop-strata and many more. Is the vision also to capture TV viewing on ‘other screens’? With consumption of TV having changed and changing fast how will this dynamism be captured and with what accuracy – meaning how much would the emphasis be on R&D?

     

    Industry leaders represented on the BARC Board should typically build a consensus on the contours of the new system. Not defining the perimeters in this case could lead to angst and confusion among some of the stakeholders.

     

    Consultation on User Requirements

    The current RFI has been asked from organisations who could possibly provide data or technology or both. However, one hopes that what will also come in soon is to ask Users of the data and other stakeholders, their requirements and concerns as part of a consultative approach. The stakeholders could be asked to present their consultative papers on what they feel should be the construct of the new system. There are clearly a lot of diverse users utilizing TV Measurement and some of these folks have had all sorts of angst on sample sizes, geographical coverage, representation of certain pop-strata, analysis variables in the system, sampling methodology/ criteria, etc etc.

     

    A compilation and understanding of these papers would help BARC look for a option that can provide more or less what the stakeholder are looking for. Very much in line with what TRAI did before implementing digitisation. The success of BARC lies in building consensus among all the stakeholders.

     

    Vendor Capabilities (The Current RFI)

    BARC has issued the RFI wherein they have asked varied companies to provide their capabilities. This is critical but will be only be a partial solving of the Measurement conundrum. The other pieces mentioned in this piece are also critical to capture. One hopes to see more action in this space in days to come.

     

    Joydip Kapadia is Business Head, Television Street Maps. He has worked with TAM Media Research as VP Operations from October 1998 to July 2008. Earlier, he had a 14-year stint with market research firms ORG-MARG and Mode (1984-1998).

     

  • Starting a new group blog with, as the title suggests, asides, random notings and assorted two-bits. And may we add: all to be consumed in good spirit (and along with good spirits may be)

    MediaAsides: In which BARC is caught copying and pasting + LV ke endurance ka raaz!

    There are many reasons why I love and use Google. One of them is my ability to check for plagiarism in milliseconds. When I read a line or phrase that gives me a sense of déjà vu, I copy that particular line and search for it.

     

    Yesterday, I read all the comments on BARC, as anyone interested in media must have done. I stopped when I came to this line:

    “not exceeding 20 A4 pages in single spaced Verdana 10 point.”

     

    That’s extraordinarily specific. Number of pages. Size of paper. Spacing. Font. Font size.

     

    And where had I seen this before?

     

    So I copied and pasted not exceeding 20 A4 pages in single spaced Verdana 10 point into the Google searcgh box and, Bingo!

     

    Here are a few lines from the BARC press release: link

     

    “It is clear that the legacy architecture of the system that has evolved incrementally is now ready for seminal change. However, what is not clear are the contours of the new system, which BARC aims to define.

     

    The RFI seeks ideas, templates, experiences that will help BARC to blueprint the New Television Audience Measurement System. The annexure below lists a few questions that respondents may consider addressing as a part of their response to this RFI.

     

    As per RFI, respondents will be expected to provide their inputs in the form of a report not exceeding 20 A4 pages in single spaced Verdana 10 point. Respondents should be willing to do a presentation not exceeding 1 hour at a BARC specified location in Mumbai orNew Delhi.”

     

    And here are a few from an IRS release: link

    “It is clear that legacy architecture of the study that has evolved in stages, is now ready for seminal change. It is less clear, however, what the contours of the new IRS will be. Therefore, the RFI seeks ideas, templates and experiences that will help RSCI to prepare a blueprint for the new IRS. Respondents will be expected to provide their inputs in the form of a report not exceeding 20 A4 pages in single-spaced Verdana 10 point font size. Respondents will also be expected to be willing to do a presentation not exceeding one hour at RSCI’s secretariat in Mumbai.”

     

    Now you know why I love Google.

     

    (Contributed by Anant Rangaswami)

     

    LV ke endurance ka raaz!

     

    Speaking of BARC and measurement and Google chacha, reminds us of this unrelated bit we must tell you. Only a cop on a busy Mumbai street can boast of greater endurance. Being at the helm of TAM forever and ever is not a joke as we all know, but what’s it that keeps the affable CEO of TAM Media. A good workout and a run, we are told.

     

    So at a competition in this mid-Mumbai club, LV, as LV Krishnan is referred to by the world, won the push-ups contest with a record 56 uthak-baithaks. Yes, you read it right: fix and six fifty six push-ups.

     

    When we asked him if it was true, he just smiled. And then we asked with another nugget we had heard: 36 bottles of beer in one sitting. Yes, but this time with more than a smile. And, not pint-sized ones… ’coz these were in an era when they would only make them laaaarge.

     

    PS: Talking of LV’s 56, have you tried how many you can do at a go? Yours truly tried: couldn’t go beyond 14 and was limping for a week thereafter. LOL.

     

    (Contributed by A N Chorrea)

     

    As the title suggests, MediaAsides will carry asides, random notings and assorted two-bits. And may we add: all to be consumed in good spirit (and along with good spirits may be). How regularly will this be? We aren’t very sure. But, with the help of all your contributions, reasonably regularly. Inbox your inputs to editor@mxmindia.com. Our lips will be sealed… won’t reveal our source!

     

  • MxMIndia learns that the I&B Ministry may set up a joint government-industry committee if BARC activities don’t kick off by November

    Govt may set up own body if it doesn’t see action on BARC by November

    By A Correspondent

     

    Even as I&B secretary Uday Verma met stakeholders of the three industry bodies who are setting up the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) – the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) and the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) – yesterday, MxMIndia learns from sources that the government is exceedingly upset with the delay and if it doesn’t see any action by November 2012, it may set up a joint government-industry committee to take things forward.

     

    Other than the collective pressure of the News Broadcasters Association, the NDTV case against TAM and its principals and Doordarshan’s own misgivings on the issue are among the compelling reasons why the I&B ministry is in a rush for the formation of the BARC. The government is aware that like in the case of content regulation, it would not like to play a role in the issue, however it believes that precious time has been lost. MxMIndia was told the pressure consumer/advocacy groups and Members of Parliament have also been asking for a look-in at the ratings process.

     

    While representatives of the IBF, ISA and AAAI have reassured the Secretary that all is well, the fact is that misgivings are still simmering given the recent charges that have been traded between the IBF and the ISA and AAAI.

     

    BARC was mooted way back in 2008 and the formation process had started in 2010, with an announcement on the setting up earlier this year – in March at FICCI Frames, to be precise. However, there have been stumbling blocks, all of which have been are said to have been cleared.

     

    BARC and consequently an all-new system of data collection could mean investment of around Rs 1000 crore, depending on the number of measuerement boxes to be installed. To start with, a CEO needs to be appointed as presently all stakeholders have their own business responsibilities, the demands of which are increasing with the festive season coming up.

     

  • With the war of words between NDTV and WPP never-ending, industry leaders must intervene… else the government will

    MxM Comment: Enough of trading charges. Industry needs to bring warring partners to the table

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    It’s the kind of content that’s been seeing our hit rates go up, but I seriously think enough is enough. It is time the industry gets together and brings warring partners to the table. It’s important that either an industry body like IBF or AAAI or someone who would earn the respect of all parties concerned were to convene this. MxMIndia would have been happy to take the lead, but we’d rather be an independent observer than a participant. Although both Star and Madison do have active linkages with NDTV and WPP respectively, I would think Messrs Sam Balsara and Uday Shankar would do well to take the lead. For, the current blamegame and exchange of unpleasantries can continue forever, and we could still be struggling for solutions.

     

    What’s worse is that Sir Martin Sorrell is himself being dragged into the war of words. So an NDTV statment rubbishes what Sorrell and WPP have to say. And WPP (and Sir Sorrell) haven’t hesitated from commenting on NDTV’s fortunes and its lawyers. Thankfully, Dr Prannoy Roy’s name hasn’t been pulled in yet. But for how long?

     

    Representatives from all stakeholders have privately confided to this writer and corroborated MxMIndia’s original standpoint that it’s the system that’s ought to be blamed for the mess the industry is in and not just TAM. I may even stick my neck out and say that from the information I have, the TAM management isn’t corrupt, though there one may not rule out the presence of some rotten apples in the rank and file. The only way to eliminate that is by a process that has a reasonable number of checks and balances.

     

    TAM’s problem is that for too long it has not had a joint stakeholder body (BARC, earlier Joint Industry Body) governing it and providing it a frame of reference for operations. In the recent past, with the exit of aMap, it’s been a monopolistic play but you can’t blame TAM for that. The industry didn’t patronise aMap well enough.

     

    News broadcasters are particularly peeved with the current measurement system because their demand for a stop to weekly ratings wasn’t accepted by TAM. TAM, on its part, said if all stakeholders – broadcasters, advertisers and agencies – were unanimous, they would make the switch.

     

    WPP is huge in India – Group M, Ogilvy and WPP and several other outfits. The aggregate employee strength is 12,000 and revenues are of around $500million. NDTV too has a reputation of being a quality broadcaster. I am sure neither is taking the Indian market lightly.

     

    Now let’s avoid a bloodbath of words.

     

    PS: I have another worry. The news broadcasters have already asked the Minister of Information and Broadcasting to intervene in the measurement issue. While one appreciates the sentiments of the NBA, asking the government to step in can be suicidal. If the government finds the war of words between statekholders never-ending, it may well do that and last week’s example with blocking Twitter ids is a fair indicator of how governments can act.

     

  • A weekly column by Paritosh Joshi, until recently CEO, Star CJ. Given his varied experience in the media and industry bodies, Mr Joshi will analyse issues concerning the business of media, measurement and research

    Paritosh Joshi: Independence and Free Media

    By Paritosh Joshi

     

    Constitutional Law is assumed to be arcane, dense and generally beyond the comprehension of anyone except the most learned of legal minds. And yet, some of the most soaring, inspiring expressions of humanity’s pursuit of a higher ideal, the greater good, a more just world are to be found there. Here are two splendid examples:

     

    “WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:

    JUSTICE, social, economic and political;

    LIBERTY, of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

    EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;

    and to promote among them all

    FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

    IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949,DO HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION”.

     

    “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”.

     

    84 words in that first quotation, the Preamble to the Constitution of India (and it was only 82 before Indira Gandhi imposed ‘SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST’ upon it vide the Forty Second Constitution Amendment Bill, 1976) and a mere 45 in the second, the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. Look at how emphatic both are on the matter of Free Speech.

     

    Why should this be so? Jurists aver that all other fundamental freedoms can be logically derived from Free Speech. Conversely, truncate Free Speech from the rights enjoyed by the citizens of a nation-state and you have an inevitable path to oppression and tyranny. The Scottish essayist, Thomas Carlyle in his book On Heroes and Her Worship cites the British Parliamentarian Edmund Burke as the progenitor of the phrase “Fourth Estate” to describe the Press. The quote that has passed into common usage is: “There were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important far than they all”. The importance of this Estate grows exponentially as private and state power expands in a rapidly growing Socio-Economy. By ensuring that the reader or viewer is kept abreast with the latest developments in the world around them and, in particular, calling out malfeasance, misdemeanour and mischief in high places, the media keep untrammelled might in check.

     

    How well are we inIndiadoing on this front?

    Not very, one has to say, with the greatest regret.

     

    Doordarshan, set up with an ambitious charter of achieving everything from “Catalyst for change”, “Promote National Integration” all the way through to  “Create values of appraisal of art and cultural heritage” has now been reduced to an anamic copy of private Hindi GE channels. So much for our much vaunted “Public Broadcasting System”.

     

    And have the private broadcasters covered themselves with glory? Let’s look at news in India’s most widely spoken language: Hindi. With a potential audience footprint running into several hundred million people, the genre must surely recognize its indispensable role in protecting the rights of this, often disadvantaged, class of viewers / citizens. What do they actually get? A puerile confection of tabloid sensationalism, GE quasi-reruns and an endless barrage of news pablum.

     

    Can we be hopeful that things can or will change? Yes. For the strangest reason.

     

    The promise of BARC to give us a wider and deeper understanding of the needs and interest of the television audience. And its other promise of shifting the inventory valuation from a relative currency (CPRP) to an absolute one (CPT). As broadcasters receive a more fair value for the product they sell, their need to be incessantly strident to get audiences or perish trying, will be replaced by greater sobriety and a renewed focus on creative quality.

     

    66th Independence Day Greetings to all my readers and their families!

     

  • The apex bodies of advertisers and agencies assert they are not delaying the setting up of BARC

    It’s incorrect to blame us on BARC delay, say ISA & AAAI

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    With news network NDTV suing television measurement body TAM Media Research and its principals, it’s become critical that stakeholders of the proposed Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) get their act together to provide an adequate framework for research and ratings.

     

    For, if industry bodies do not act speedily, the government could well step in. It was hence interesting to read IBF president Uday Shankar’s assertion that the apex bodies of advertisers (ISA) and ad agencies (AAAI) have been speedbreakers in the setting up of BARC.

     

    Nagesh Alai

    This statement of not showing enough urgency has not gone down too well with the Advertising Association of India and Indian Society of Advertisers. Said Nagesh Alai, former AAAI president and current ex-officio member: “It is unfortunate that such a comment has been passed. At the end of the day, who are the constituents of the industry? The advertisers, broadcasters and advertising agencies and each of them have a role to play. When all of these are stakeholders, how is it possible that ISA and AAAI will be uninterested in moving BARC forward? The fact remains that we have been engaging with them regularly and have come to an agreement on what the constitution of the shareholding would be; what should be the constitution of the board of governance and what should be the operating principles. All these have been captured in the draft of Memorandum and Articles of BARC, which is with the IBF.”

     

    He added: “We’ve met and agreed in principle on the key issues and have put down those things in the document as it is very necessary to start off. It is lying with them now. As I see it, it is work in progress. There is no question of us not being interested or not wanting to take this forward – how can it be? It is just not a rational statement. Just to recall, three years ago, AAAI was one of the prime movers on BARC – it was our idea.”

     

    On the current status of the draft, Mr Alai said: “As of now, the Memorandum and Article document that needs to be signed by all stakeholders is with IBF. All the recommendations in the draft have been taken jointly by the three member bodies. It is just the question of whatever is there in the draft is seen and accepted by them and we sign and move on from there. As I see it, it would take another one or two months for the signing process to take place; it all depends on how soon IBF responds now. But let me tell you that we will continue to work in partnership so that we are able to come up with a system that is robust and liked by all.”

     

    Meanwhile, when asked for its standpoint on the issue, the ISA reverted with the following statement: “The Indian Society of Advertisers, who initiated the formation of BARC based on the World Federation of Advertisers’ best practice of forming a Joint Industry Body (JIB) for television audience measurement, would like BARC to start tomorrow. We would not like to join the blamegame, as a joint industry body BARC is necessary for robust and transparent TRPs. As for NDTV versus TAM issue, we cannot comment on it as the case is still sub judice.”

     

    Bharat Patel

    When contacted, Bharat Patel, past chairman of Procter & Gamble and chairman of ISA admitted to BARC facing some tough times but said that it will be back on track soon. “There have been ups and downs but you must understand that this is a new baby and it is bound to take a long time. Also, there are huge investments involved. But then it should happen soon,” he said.

     

    On the IBF president’s statement holding the ISA and AAAI responsible for the slow progression, Mr Patel said: “It is incorrect. It’s got nothing to do with the AAAI or the ISA. As I said, these things take some time. We have reached a stage where we are finalising the articles and once that is done it should move fast.”

     

    “One must also realise that people have their own job/business to cater to,” Mr Patel added. “One has to have enough time on hand as people who are involved in BARC have their own jobs to look at too. For me, the real issue is that people are not finding the time to get together. I cannot give a timeframe at this stage as I cannot speak on behalf of other people but then it will happen soon. In fact, ISA wants to get started with it from tomorrow itself as we were the ones who initiated the global best practice JIB by the name of WFA. But you will see it happening soon.”

     

    While the statements from AAAI and ISA reiterate the commitment to the cause of setting up a credible measurement metric, it’s critical for the trio of IBF, ISA and AAAI to put aside differences and work amicably to safeguard the future of the industry. The ball for now is in the industry’s court. If it doesn’t act fast enough, the government could also be an active participant.

     

  • BARC chairman Punit Goenka indicates that the committee of eminent experts is being constituted and an announcement will be made in two or three weeks

    BARC next announcement in 2-3 weeks: Punit Goenka

    By A Correspondent

     

    Even industry captains privately told MxMIndia that NDTV lawsuit against TAM and its principals would not have happened had all stakeholders shown urgency to get Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) off the ground, BARC chairman Punit Goenka told MxMIndia on the sidelines of the Indian Television Fest press conference that one can expect some announcements in next two or three weeks.

     

    A group of ’eminent experts’ has been spoken with to constitute the apex advisory committee and with each one’s concurrence in, an announcement will be made.

     

  • The genuine fear is that the BARC initiative will again slow down or worse – get delayed due to lack of clarity or infighting amongst the associations/players

    By Invitation | Atul Phadnis: Will TV measurement in India finally get its logical direction?

    By Atul Phadnis

     

    In March this year, three industry associations that have a significant say in television broadcast and TV advertising jointly announced a new chapter in the TV Ratings Measurement initiative. Broadcast audience Research Council (BARC) is the joint venture that has been in discussion, for the longest time, between the three stakeholder associations – Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), Indian Society of advertisers (ISA) and the advertising agencies association of India (AAAI) to measure nationwide TV audience viewership. BARC has taken birth where a lot of earlier industry initiatives have failed to take off – hence, a lot of folks (including me) are watching these events very closely and curiously.

     

    Yes. There are cynics who doubt whether the BARC initiative will be able to streamline the industry ambitions for a wider and robust TV audience measurement thereby recasting/enhancing the offerings of the current ratings provider – TAM Media Research (a joint venture between Nielsen and Kantar-WPP).

     

    The genuine fear is that the industry initiative will again slow down or worse – get delayed due to lack of clarity or infighting amongst the associations/players. It’s a legitimate concern based on what we have seen in the past. In fact, the recent announcement has been possible only when a formula for compromise was reached after months of stalemate on the BARC shareholding and composition of its board.

     

    The genesis of the industry initiative that has now taken birth as BARC has in its vision the Rs329 billion TV industry that to a large extent depends on ratings and viewership information for key decisions, growth and business. So what are the key expectations of the industry that should get addressed if BARC is the answer to the TV industry’s call on TV Ratings?

     

    1. The Burden of Transparency

    For years now, TAM has been criticized, publicly and privately, for alleged opaque policies relating to aspects such as third-party audits, pricing, technology R&D results and panel performance KPIs. as is the case with any competitive industry bustling with cut-throat competition, rumor mills and conflicting agendas of different players, the transparency burden had been conveniently dumped on TAM. after all, we do see from time-to-time the so-called ‘open letters’ that certain channels would send out to TAM asking for explanations on why their blockbuster programs did not do well in terms of TRPs. Irrespective of where the answers for failure lie, these occasions, nonetheless, cast all sorts of aspersions on the trading currency and are hardly constructive. I haven’t seen a single such instance over the last decade produce any positive reaction – either in providing more answers on causality nor a bettering of the ratings system. and these instances surely can’t be healthy for the industry that has dependencies on advertising that in turn needs TV measurement.

     

    It’s high time the industry associations, perhaps via BARC, put their necks on the block and take frontal onus and responsibilities on transparency elements that will boost confidence on TV Ratings. Not only will this sharing of burden save the industry the blushes in front of the advertisers, it will also have a correctional effect with the routine debates being laid to rest. Hopefully, BARC is able to bring in transparency by defining deliverables and quality parameters clearly to the Ratings vendor(s) in the new scheme of things.

     

    2. Evolving data reporting policies

    Transparency in KPIs will also have an effect on how TV ratings data should be reported in our industry. There are a host of mature markets, in particular theUK, that have a threshold viewership criteria for TV program ratings to meet; if those numbers have to be reported in the weekly data. This ensures that viewership estimates for very small channels and very niche programs inside very small market groups are not reported. However, in our market, if the 700th channel gets launched tomorrow, TV ratings for that channel for very small markets and microscopic audience definitions will be available. Lack of industry understanding and consensus has stopped from any policy to take shape and solidify in this specific issue. This, in turn, has led to a sad saga of inexplicable rating fluctuations for specialist channel genres in small markets/ audiences. With the BARC coming in, certain wise old men (and women) can roll out this policy of releasing viewership numbers of only those channels and programs that are in the permissible and acceptable error level range.

     

    3. Structural changes in panel construction

    The methodology for TV Ratings in India- especially the way panel homes are selected from a neighborhood has remained largely the same. The criteria is defined through Primary Control Variables, a system to carve out quotas of what sort of homes should be selected to enter the panel. However, the dramatic changes that have occurred in the last 5 years – that of DTH now forming a large part of the TV universe – requires the Primary Control Variables to reflect an acceptance of that new reality. Earlier, say 8-10 years ago, cable monopolies in a neighborhood within an area, city or town ensured homogeneity of received signals in spite of the heterogeneity of viewing. That signal homogeneity within the neighborhoods would ensure that thousands of homes within that area would receive the same input from their cablewallah into their TV sets. Today that cable structure lies shattered wherein one single neighborhood would have the cablewallah’s analogue signal in certain homes, his digital (CAS) box in certain households as well as scores of homes with DTH connections from 7 DTH providers.

     

    Now layer this information on the specific channels or channel packs subscribed by DTH or Digital Cable viewers – and you have a distribution complexity that snarls into existence, dramatically affecting TV viewership. This distribution factor needs to be well modeled inside the Primary Control Variables to construct the panel. It is not there at the moment and neither has there been an active industry debate on how to bring newer factors such as these into the panel construction/ panel design exercise.

     

    4. Critical Measurement/ Panel Decisions (including R&D, Technology)

    Consumer patterns of TV consumption are dramatically changing with the advent of set-top-boxes, recorders, mobile TV, and so on. Viewing is also happening when people are on the move rather than only in-home TV viewing. In India, ratings are reported only for in-home TV viewing. TV consumption on mobiles, tablets, IPTV, computers or outside-of-home is unmeasured. If these new patterns need to be measured, a significant emphasis would be needed on R&D. This R&D and Trial Panels have to be budgeted by a vibrant industry determined to capture every viewing instance so as to analyse and eventually monetize those audiences. It would be a disappointment and a terrible waste if BARC did not have this early in its agenda.

     

    5. TV Measurement Vision

    It might seem unbelievable but it is true – the largest customers and users of TV ratings info today do not have a common goal or vision for the future of TV measurement in our market. Issues such as Rural versus Urban, increase coverage vis-a-vis better representation, upscale versus mass-market – would find distinctly different views within the industry. In the absence of a common vision, the strategy to expand, enhance, improve the measurement system is clearly not going to be very effective. With a forum like BARC, the attempt should be to collectively define the vision as well as the timelines and path to attaining that goal by mobilizing opinion and the industry war-chest. This is, perhaps, the most crucial aspect of the success or failure of BARC, the failure of which would risk reducing this initiative into a rudderless and spineless wonder.

     

    6. CPM versus CPRP

    In the last few years, broadcasters have tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to correct a long standing trading currency aberration in our industry. While the world uses CPMs (Cost per thousand ad impressions) to price benchmark TV ad inventory, our market has erroneously got locked into CPRPs (Cost Per Rating Points) – thanks to the myopic vision of media agency AORs of the 90s. While the entire industry (including media agency heads who publicly oppose change but privately admit its fairness) wants transition to the correct trading currency, the longstanding question has been who will do it first on both ends – advertisers and channels. Perhaps with BARC, the opportunity is in planning that roll-out as a coordinated industry action.

     

    7. Redressal Forum

    One of the biggest opportunities for BARC is to streamline the custom arguments, debates and requirements that individual players have on TV ratings into an ever evolving bucket of policies. In the current scheme of things, individual players have their differences with the TV ratings company, but not really have an escalation route to get their views heard. These issues range from pricing (dis)parity to use of raw data to choice of ratings software to conflicting TAM’s policy of not selling their data to certain client categories. Perhaps the most common arguments relate to unexplained fluctuations and peaks-troughs in the ratings data.

     

    BARC would be better served to pursue an approach built on open, transparent debates and a clever commercial policy in such instances that might see lesser open issues but greater revenues into the industry kitty.

     

    Summing up…

    The above piece is my attempt to get a constructive dialogue out in the open on a matter that deeply concerns TV Media professionals cutting across organizational lines. I personally have tremendous respect for professionals in this stream including those within the TAM Executive team as well as the industry folks driving the BARC initiative. It is my sincere hope that a constructive dialogue followed by clear and rapid forward actions by stakeholders leads to the World’s finest and biggest TV measurement initiative! amen…

     

    Atul Phadnis is Chief Executive, WHAT’S-ON-INDIA

     

  • The nationwide audience research joint body, the Broadcast Audience Research Council, will not conduct audience measurement directly but commission independent specialist research vendors.

    @FF12: IBF, ISA & AAAI announce launch of BARC

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”250″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjuq1sB7h-E[/youtube]

    Video and Text By Shruti Pushkarna

     

    The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) and Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) announced the official formation of a nationwide audience research joint body, Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC).

     

    The announcement was made at the inaugural day of FICCI Frames 2012 in Mumbai in presence of I&B Secretary Uday K Varma, TRAI Chairman Dr JS Sarma, Managing Director & CEO of ZEE Punit Goenka, Star India COO Sanjay Gupta, Times Television Network MD & CEO Sunil Lulla, Star CJ CEO Paritosh Joshi, Madison Group Chairman Sam Balsara and Landmarc Leisure Corporation MD Paulomi Dhawan.

     

    IBF will have 60 per cent stake in BARC, while ISA and AAAI will each have 20 per cent stake.

     

    Originally founded in 2008, BARC was earlier to be set up as a joint venture between the IBF and the ISA on a 60:40 ratio and initial investment of Rs 300 million. However, there was a need felt for the apex body of ad agencies – the AAAI – to also be part of the BARC.

     

    Talking about the way forward, Paritosh Joshi, CEO, Star CJ said BARC will be similar to what BARB (Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board) is in the UK. He said, “There will be a professional CEO who will be appointed, and we have learnt a lot from watching the BARB work in the UK and one of the things that makes BARB work as well as it does is that they have a professional management system. So we are going to learn from the best practices around the world and one of those best practices is to make it run like a professional setup.”

     

    A technical committee is being set up, now that all the stakeholders are in place. Mr Joshi said, “The Board of Directors will appoint a technical committee Chairman and then a technical committee and that is where the work actually begins. The work really is going out there and finding the best solution for television audience measurement in India.”

     

    BARC will not conduct audience measurement directly but commission independent specialist research vendors.

     

    The Board of the council will have 10 members, six members from the IBF and two members each from the ISA and AAAI.

     

    Talking about the formation of BARC, Abdul Khan, Senior Vice President & National Head of Business Marketing, Tata Teleservices remarked, “I don’t really think that we need another currency…I think the task is to make what we have more robust and it’s never ending. If two, why not three, why not four? So we should have one currency that is comprehensive enough to tackle major problems and be accepted by the entire industry.”

     

    “Maybe we need to get people from the younger generation on board  to figure because it is a rapidly changing environment. I am not seeing any changes happening in television research in India – it’s become static in a way. So we need to make it more robust.  Sample size has to increase; one also needs to look at the quality of the sample etc. It’s like if it’s not broke, why you trying to fix it,” added Mr Khan.

     

    Paulomi Dhawan, MD, Landmarc Leisure Corporation said, “Advertisers are always looking for transparent and robust research and in-depth insights in the rapidly changing television viewership landscape. With time, it is going to be more challenging and you will need more insights from research. We have been working together since some time to launch BARC.”

     

    ISA Chairman Bharat Patel added, “ISA is pleased to be a part of this joint industry body, BARC, along with the IBF and AAAI to provide continued and meaningful research.”

    with additional inputs by Rishi Vora