MAM
NDTV sues TAM, Nielsen for manipulation of data
MUMBAI: Television news broadcaster NDTV has filed a lawsuit in New York seeking injunction against publication of television ratings by TAM Media Research and also compensation and damages, a move that can have major implications if the allegations are proved right.
The lawsuit has been filed against TAM, its parent companies Nielsen and Kantar Media Research and senior officials of the companies in the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
NDTV has demanded $810 million as compensation for the loss in revenues it has suffered over the years and $580 million in penalty for negligence by Nielsen and Kantar officials.
In the petition, NDTV has accused the companies of knowingly allowing manipulation of viewership data in favour of channels that are willing to provide bribes to its officials.
According to NDTV‘s complaint (a copy of which is with Indiantelevision.com), “rampant manipulation” of viewership data has been going on for at least eight years. “The loss of revenue caused to NDTV on account of the false, fabricated and manipulated data released to the public by Nielsen, Kantar and TAM over the past eight years is not less than $810 million,” it states.
“This is a case, brought under New York State laws, of negligence, gross negligence, false representations, prima facie tort and negligence per se… This is also a case of a once noble company, Nielsen…exhibiting unabashed short term greed and reckless disregard of its duties and of its noble origin. It is a case of the two largest audience measurement conglomerates in the world, Nielsen and Kantar, formerly competitors, operating worldwide through a deliberately complex web of subsidiaries and joint ventures, creating, at least in India, a monopoly and abusing the power of that monopoly,” the lawsuit reads.
NDTV has also stated that it presented evidences to Nielsen and other parties and its senior officials promised to take remedial actions. However, all promises to make changes proved to be a “sham” and bad data continued to be released “recklessly and in pursuit of profits.”
At a meeting NDTV had with Nielsen and TAM officials on January 20 2012, NDTV had arranged a detailed presentation by a whistleblower, who was a consultant providing on ground services to TAM. The consultant informed those present that he used to bribe TAM personnel as well as peoplemeter homes in order to manipulate ratings for TV channels and he was successful at doing so. The consultant further stated that he was also able to bribe TAM officials to select him as a sample PeopleMeter home and had a PeopleMeter installed in his own premises.
NDTV has not disclosed the identity of the consultant in the lawsuit. The 20 January meeting was also attended by Robert Messemer, Chief Security Officer at The Nielsen Company.
NDTV is being represented by attorneys Adam Finkel and Rohit Sabharwal.
“The primary reason that data could be so easily manipulated in India was due to the persistent refusal of Nielsen and Kantar to provide adequate funds for TAM to increase its sample size and invest in the systems/quality/security procedures,” the lawsuit says.
Apart from TAM, Nielsen Group, Kantar Media Research, WPP, JWT, IMRB International, and the Nielsen directors are also made party to the lawsuit.
NDTV claims that TAM is employing an inadequate sampling size for the Indian market, and also of using inadequate security measures to protect its data. It has also alleged that the lack of security has led to an atmosphere of widespread corruption, with different networks bribing sample households to watch them, and TAM employees taking bribes in exchange for helping to game the numbers.
The lawsuit lists 42 counts against Nielsen, Kantar, TAM and other defendants, ranging from breach of fiduciary duty and gross negligence to tortious and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage.
“TAM India doesn‘t comment on any litigation,” said a spokesperson of TAM, a joint venture of Nielsen, Kantar and Cavendish Square Holdings B.V.
Earlier in 2001 Outlook Magazine and later in 2002 Zee Group had carried exposes on manipulation of TAM ratings.
MAM
Nielsen launches co-viewing pilot to sharpen TV measurement
Super Bowl pilot to refine how shared TV audiences are counted
MUMBAI: Nielsen is taking a fresh stab at one of television’s oldest blind spots: how many people are actually watching the same screen. The audience-measurement giant on February 4 unveiled a co-viewing pilot that uses wearable devices to better capture shared viewing, starting with America’s biggest broadcast stage.
The trial begins with Super Bowl LX on NBC on February 8, 2026, before extending to other high-profile live sports and entertainment events in the first half of the year. The goal is simple but commercially potent: count viewers more accurately, especially during live spectacles that pull families and friends to one screen.
The new approach leans on Nielsen’s proprietary wearable meters, wrist-worn devices that resemble smartwatches. These passively capture audio signatures from TV content, logging exposure to shows, films and live events without requiring viewers to sign in or self-report. In theory, fewer clicks, fewer lapses, better data.
Karthik Rao, Nielsen’s ceo, cast the move as part of a broader measurement push. He said the company’s task is to keep pushing accuracy as clients invest heavily in live programming that draws mass audiences. The co-viewing pilot, he added, builds on upgrades such as Big Data + Panel measurement, out-of-home expansion, live-streaming metrics and wearable-based tracking.
Co-viewing is not new territory for Nielsen, which has long tried to estimate how many people sit before a single set. What is new is the heavier integration of wearables and passive detection to reduce reliance on active inputs from panel homes.
For now, the pilot comes with caveats. Co-viewing estimates from the trial will not be folded into Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel ratings, which remain the industry’s trading currency. Instead, pilot findings will be shared with clients a few weeks after final Big Data + Panel ratings are delivered. Clients may disclose those findings publicly.
More impact data will follow later this year. Full integration into Nielsen’s marketing-intelligence suite is slated as a longer-term play, with a target of bringing co-viewing into currency measurement for the 2026–2027 season. This is only phase one, with further co-viewing enhancements planned beyond 2026 and additional timelines to be announced.
The push fits a wider pattern. Nielsen has in recent years expanded big-data integration, adopted first-party data for live-streaming measurement and broadened out-of-home tracking. It also positions itself as the reference point for streaming metrics through products such as The Gauge and the Nielsen Streaming Top 10.
In a market where billions of ad dollars hinge on decimal points, counting who is in the room matters. If Nielsen can pin down shared viewing, the humble sofa could become prime measurement real estate. The race to count every eyeball just found a new wrist to watch.
Brands
Delhivery chairman Deepak Kapoor, independent director Saugata Gupta quit board
Gurugram: Delhivery’s boardroom is being reset. Deepak Kapoor, chairman and independent director, has resigned with effect from April 1 as part of a planned board reconstitution, the logistics company said in an exchange filing. Saugata Gupta, managing director and chief executive of FMCG major Marico and an independent director on Delhivery’s board, has also stepped down.
Kapoor exits after an eight-year stint that included steering the company through its 2022 stock-market debut, a period that saw Delhivery transform from a venture-backed upstart into one of India’s most visible logistics platforms. Gupta, who joined the board in 2021, departs alongside him, marking a simultaneous clearing of two senior independent seats.
“Deepak and Saugata have been instrumental in our process of recognising the need for and enabling the reconstitution of the board of directors in line with our ambitious next phase of growth,” said Sahil Barua, managing director and chief executive, Delhivery. The statement frames the exits less as departures and more as deliberate succession, a boardroom shuffle timed to the company’s evolving scale and strategy.
The resignations arrive amid broader governance recalibration. In 2025, Delhivery appointed Emcure Pharmaceuticals whole-time director Namita Thapar, PB Fintech founder and chairman Yashish Dahiya, and IIM Bangalore faculty member Padmini Srinivasan as independent directors, signalling a tilt towards consumer, fintech and academic expertise at the board level.
Kapoor’s tenure spanned Delhivery’s most defining years, rapid network expansion, public listing and the push towards profitability in a bruising logistics market. Gupta’s presence brought FMCG and brand-scale perspective during a period when ecommerce volumes and last-mile delivery economics were being rewritten.
The twin exits, effective from the new financial year, underscore a familiar corporate rhythm: founders consolidate, veterans rotate out, and fresh voices are ushered in to script the next chapter. In India’s hyper-competitive logistics race, even the boardroom does not stand still.
MAM
Meta appoints Anuvrat Rao as APAC head of commerce partnerships
At Locofy.ai, Rao helped convert a three-year free beta into a paid engine, clocking 1,000 subscribers and 15 enterprise clients within ten days of launch in September 2024. The low-code startup, backed by Accel and top tech founders, is famed for turning designs into production-ready code using proprietary large design models.
Before that, Rao founded generative AI venture 1Bstories, which was acquired by creative AI platform Laetro in mid-2024, where he briefly served as managing director for APAC. Alongside operating roles, he has been an active investor and advisor since 2020, backing startups such as BotMD, Muxy, Creator plus, Intellect, Sealed and CricFlex through a creator-economy-led thesis.
Rao spent over eight years at Google, holding senior partnership roles across search, assistant, chrome, web and YouTube in APAC, and earlier cut his teeth in strategy consulting at OC&C in London and investment finance at W. P. Carey in Europe and the US.
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