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Tag: BARC India

  • IIM-C presents a report on BARC India’s TV panel size

    IIM-C presents a report on BARC India’s TV panel size

    MUMBAI: India’s sole TV viewership measurement company and the world’s largest TV audience measurement service, BARC India, joined hands with the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, the country’s premier management education institute, to curate a report on BARC India’s TV panel sample sizes. The report presented to BARC India summarizes the review, analysis, and recommendations for the sample design of BARC India’s panel. On sample sizes in general, the report states that an ideal sample size depends on many factors and, therefore, ‘there is no unique nor ideal solution’. Instead, sample size should be based on aspects such as the sample design, cost of sampling, overall budget, population characteristics and other internal considerations BARC India needs to account for.

    About sample allocation, the team was pleased with the observed mechanisms in place by BARC India toward ensuring that the sample is ‘truly representative of the population’.

    Some of the observations made in the report by IIM-C on BARC India’s sample size include:

    Appreciation of the existing practice and no need for any significant departure from the current sample sizes

    Opportunity of gaining additional insights by 15% to 20% increase in sample size

    The choice of 55K sample size for the next round appears quite reasonable

    The professors even commended BARC India on its way of clearly and concisely documenting information of sample design and its overall data collection procedures.

    Saibal Chattopadhyay, Professor of Statistics at IIM Calcutta and the team leader, says, “Three months of brainstorming and interaction with BARC India officials have been a very rewarding and enlightening experience for us. The assignment gave us a golden opportunity to directly apply our theoretical knowledge in the domain of Statistics to a complex practical problem involving TRP measurements in a country like India with enormous diversity among TV viewers. We are thankful to BARC India’s management for entrusting us with the task and are highly appreciative of their officials who have spent their valuable time to help us carry out the task to our satisfaction. BARC India has a good sample design framework in place and we have reasons to believe that they will find our report very useful and insightful.

    Derrick Gray, Chief of Measurement Science, BARC India, says, "It is definitely a great honor that IIM-C, the country’s premiere management education institute has validated and endorsed our panel size and sampling methodology. This report by IIM-C has boosted the confidence of the entire BARC India team who work round the clock to deliver accurate, credible and robust viewership data, day-on-day, week after week. In a highly dynamic and diverse market like ours, it is a constant challenge to map the viewership patterns of 836 million individuals. But recognition like this always only makes us proud of the systems and technology set up that we have, which are at par with global standards.”

  • BARC India launches PrimaVU to measure premium homes viewership patterns

    BARC India launches PrimaVU to measure premium homes viewership patterns

    MUMBAI: India’s sole TV viewership measurement company and the world’s largest audience measurement service, BARC India, today announced the launch of its new product “PrimaVU” which is aimed at measuring viewership from premium homes.  Through “PrimaVU”, BARC India also introduces the industry first concept of “Viewing Minutes” which is basically sum of all individuals watching an Event basis the time spent by them. Also, PrimaVU is a separate product and not part of the currency panel measurement.

    It is a product that caters to audience measurement solutions exclusively for premium homes. PrimaVU was launched by BARC India to meet the demands of the industry to measure what premium homes watch. There has been a demand from both broadcasters and advertisers to understand this segment and how to deliver advertising to them. In the past, very few attempts have been made to measure this exclusive set of consumers, and now with PrimaVU, this demand is being addressed.

    The PrimaVU universe consists of the top 3 per cent of the socio-economic strata in the six megacities of the country. A household is defined as a premium home when it meets the following criteria set by the industry: they need to qualify as a NCCS A1 home, they must own a home with minimum three rooms as well as a kitchen, the home needs to have centralized or AC in 2 rooms, the household must own a laptop/desktop or smartphone/tablet, they must have a private car or own a 4-wheeler worth Rs 10 lakh or more and finally, they must have travelled to a premium holiday destinations.

    Data insights & dashboard will be provisioned for PrimaVU subscribers who will have access to in-depth demographic & program level data as well as critical insights for the viewership trends of the economically affluent population of the country. The panel will currently measure TV viewership habits and will gradually move to capture viewership habits across devices. Agencies subscribing to PrimaVU will also be able to plan using a module in BMW.

    “We are extremely pleased to be a thought leader once again with a product like PrimaVU. This product will not only help observe if the viewership patterns of premium homes are different from that of other homes but also provide in-depth insights into this unexplored world. The industry has been very patient and valuable with their suggestions for this product. It will allow the industry to qualify the untapped upmarket audience segment better and get a stronger fix on affluent viewers.” says BARC India CEO, Partho Dasgupta.

  • BARC India’s approach post TDSAT’s landing page order draws concern from some stakeholders

    BARC India’s approach post TDSAT’s landing page order draws concern from some stakeholders

    MUMBAI: Questions and controversies around TDSAT’s ruling on landing pages and BARC India’s subsequent flip-flop over implementation of its data validation and outlier policy refuse to die down. In a bid to allay transparency fears of a section within India’s broadcast sector, the BARC board approved a recommendation to set up a two-member committee to review the TV audience measurement body’s outlier policy.

    “As you are aware, there has been a lot of confusion around the landing page in the market. Therefore in order to give confidence to the industry and the stakeholders, BARC board approved a recommendation to set a two-member committee. Mr Nakul Chopra and Mr Praveen Tripathi are industry leaders and their appointment only reiterates the BARC board’s reassurance to give confidence to the industry.

    “Though we at BARC India, have been requested by many stakeholders to continue with the outlier policy, an independent overview of the process and any recommendation to improve, are always welcome and we look forward to working with this committee. Also, recently Deloitte had done a detailed audit on this process and found it clean” a BARC India spokesperson told Indiantelevision.com.

    Despite the latest move being a step in the right direction, the naming of the two appointees hasn't really inspired "confidence" among some industry stakeholders. If the objective is to carry out an “independent overview”, those entrusted with the task should ideally be above suspicion of a potential or perceived conflict of interest irrespective of their calibre and competence, is a view expressed by several industry executives. While Chopra is a former BARC chairman, Tripathi as CEO of Magic9 Media and Analytics continues to be associated with BARC as a consultant/vendor. Tripathi's company had earlier helped BARC process data from barometers, identify outliers and project ratings.

    While it isn't the board's job to wade through the minutiae of everyday operations, the fact that BARC's data validation and outlier policy mechanism and implementation has assumed game-changing proportions for the ecosystem is an aspect that needs its serious consideration, say some industry watchers.

    "In the case of BARC, the problem is compounded as customers are also board members,” pointed out an industry source.

    Some broadcasters, however, have raised more fundamental issues, which go beyond the BARC board’s involvement or lack of it in the outlier policy implementation.

    “Is BARC circumventing the TDSAT order which allows landing pages as a legal practice?” questioned a senior news broadcasting executive.

    The need of the hour, say some, is transparency of BARC’s internal mechanism in weeding out outliers given that there is a degree of subjectivity attached to it.

    "As for the landing page, BARC has and does maintain that they cannot identify landing pages. The process can, however, identify reach outliers which could happen for landing pages in big cable networks for smaller viewed channels or when there is a distribution intervention like activation or improvement in availability. The same principle applies to content interventions also. Most analysts who keenly watch these numbers especially for genres like English news and business news do know this since the landing page discussions started some time back. At BARC, our mandate is to measure viewership with transparency and accuracy to provide a credible measurement," the BARC India spokesperson added.

    Broadcasters that compete for a small viewership base fight for every eyeball. In an environment such as this, the landing page saga has boxed them into a state of flux when it comes to a post-TDSAT order strategy. The outcome of the two-member committee’s findings is what they keenly await in the hope of some clarity and reassurance. 

  • BARC India board forms two-member committee to review data validation & outlier policy

    BARC India board forms two-member committee to review data validation & outlier policy

    MUMBAI: Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India’s board has constituted a two-member committee to review the TV audience measurement firm’s data validation and outlier policy, Indiantelevision.com has learnt. The board’s decision comes on the back of chaos triggered by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal’s (TDSAT) ruling to permit landing page placement for TV channels. Former BARC chairman Nakul Chopra and Pravin Tripathi are part of the committee.

    “This is a great move. We at BARC India welcome the board's decision because as a joint industry body, operating in compliance with the Ministry of I&B, we follow best practises for the industry. An independent overview of the process and any recommendation to improve, are always welcome and we look forward to working with this committee,” a BARC spokesperson told Indiantelevision.com.

    Following the TDSAT ruling, BARC had stopped filtering out outlier data (from landing pages from its weekly viewership numbers. However, it reverted to its earlier methodology from week 23 onward citing the mandate of its board and claiming it had received representations received from various stakeholders.

    "As per representations received from various stakeholders and as per our board mandate, we are in the interim reverting back to our earlier process for treatment of landing page. The same will be reflective from week 23 onward till further notice. The process is also under review by the board. BARC India cannot identify landing pages. It has been identifying reach outliers. This practice is followed for all channels but the impact is more pronounced for smaller viewership channels like English news, business news and not for genres like Hindi GEC etc,” BARC had stated.

    The industry has voiced differing opinions on not just the TDSAT ruling but also BARC’s treatment of landing pages in viewership measurement.

    BARC’s weekly viewership numbers with and without landing page data has exhibited contrasting trends particularly in genres like English news. In a sense, the BARC board’s decision can be seen as an attempt to allay fears of a section within the industry that isn’t particularly satisfied with the transparency in the data validation and outlier policy of the TV measurement body.

  • In TRAI-BARC India stand-off, flashes of regulatory overreach

    In TRAI-BARC India stand-off, flashes of regulatory overreach

    MUMBAI: One of the most intriguing side acts during the implementation of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) new tariff order has been the sector regulator's face-off with TV audience measurement firm BARC. The latest flashpoint in this impasse involved TRAI issuing a show-cause notice to BARC.

    At the core of this issue is TRAI’s insistence on BARC publishing its weekly findings on its website and the latter's sustained inaction on that front.

    While BARC continues to supply data to advertisers, broadcasters and agencies, it has stopped publishing weekly ratings of shows and channels on its website due to vagaries linked to the rollout of the new regulatory framework for the broadcast sector. 

    The decision was taken after due and appropriate deliberations to protect the interest of trade, subscribers and consumers, BARC had said.

    TRAI’s argument, however, is that data at any given point in time reflects ground realities and there’s no valid reason for not putting it out in the public domain. TRAI, according to sources, believes consumers will use the ratings on the BARC website to make channel selection.

    With this stand-off now stretching into its third month, it’s important to understand what really is at centre of this controversy. Is TRAI right in directing BARC to publish the data or is the TV ratings agency justified in taking the position it has on the issue?

    To answer these questions, one must look at what BARC and TRAI have been entrusted to do as industry watchdog and TV audience measurement body respectively 

    Like any regulator, TRAI’s mandate is to devise and implement policies factoring in market realities for growth of the sectors it oversees. Ensuring free and fair regulation that is pro-consumer and aimed at sending positive signals to the investment community should be hallmarks of any policy it conceives. The new tariff order and consultation paper on improving BARC’s measurement system are two fine examples of responsible regulatory behaviour. These initiatives are aimed at benefiting consumers and growth of the TV broadcasting and distribution business at large.

    Encroaching into the operational domain of an independent and self-regulatory body, or even privately held entities for that matter, is a measure any regulator should try and avoid. Therefore issuing multiple directives and a show-cause notice to BARC could be categorised as a regulatory misstep by TRAI.

    BARC is a joint industry body founded by stakeholder bodies that represent broadcasters, advertisers and media agencies.

    Its job is to own and manage a transparent, accurate, and inclusive TV audience measurement system. It is mandated to ensure efficient media spends and content decisions in a highly dynamic and growing television sector. Hence, publishing weekly web data (for non-subscribers) isn’t actually a deviation from its standard operating procedures or a move away from conducting business as usual.

    In fact, publishing ratings on the website found no mention in the Amit Mitra committee’s recommendations, endorsed by TRAI post consultations with the industry, to form joint industry body (BARC) in 2013. These guidelines were then notified by the MIB in 2014, resulting in the formation of BARC.

    BARC India had registered itself with the MIB and was to conduct its operations on a self-regulatory model. Applying this fundamental tenet to the current scenario, BARC is well within its rights to not publish the weekly data on its website as long as it continues to service its subscribers.

    Based on evidence in the public domain, BARC neither seems to have flouted any norms nor hampered the seamless functioning of the broadcast or advertising sector in any manner. In short, BARC not publishing its weekly data on its website, pre or post the tariff order implementation, bears no impact on the operations of industry stakeholders. TAM, BARC’s predecessor for 15 years, too, did not follow the practice of publishing web data.

    Prima facie, BARC’s stance on the matter cannot be termed as a violation of the guidelines and/or the TRAI Act as the former does not come under the purview of the said act.

    BARC is yet to confirm the date from when it intends to publish the weekly data. In both its statements so far, the company has cited reasons behind applying restrictions to public consumption of its data without offering a clarification as to how it intends to tackle the regulator’s constant questions.

    It now remains to be seen what approach both parties adopt in breaking this deadlock. With both sides not backing off at the moment, the matter could soon take a serious legal turn.

  • BARC India integrates TV and OOH measurement

    BARC India integrates TV and OOH measurement

    MUMBAI: Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India is integrating TV and out of home (OOH) TV viewership in its BARC India Media Workstation (BMW) software, starting this year. It has also expanded the coverage of its OOH TV viewership measurement service to 120+ urban towns and cities beyond the launch phase of Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

    This also comes at a time when BARC India has expanded its panel to 40,000 metered homes within the committed timeline of March 2019.

    This integration of in-home and OOH TV viewing will allow BARC India subscribers to understand the overall viewership garnered on TV and the combined impact of the two mediums.

    BARC India CEO Partho Dasgupta said, “Innovation is a part of our DNA at BARC India and it has always been our resolve to empower the industry with deeper and sharper insights into the TV viewing habits of Indians, irrespective of the screen or pipe. Our latest OOH offering is one such endeavor and we are sure that it will unlock great value for the entire broadcast ecosystem with big-ticket events like Cricket World Cup and Indian Premier League coming up.”

    The service will allow broadcasters and advertisers uncover more value and insights into the TV viewing behaviours both inside and outside the home. The data will also be available in the planning module for agencies to plan effectively and account for this audience.

    An establishment study conducted for OOH measurement revealed that of the 836 million TV-owning individuals, at least 10 per cent prefer visiting restaurants and eateries at least once a week. It was also observed that 13.5 per cent of these TV viewing individuals visit said social eateries on a Sunday. The new TV + OOH measurement will enable tracking the TV viewing drive of such individuals from their homes to these social hot-spots.

  • Aaj Tak sets new viewership record in Week 9

    Aaj Tak sets new viewership record in Week 9

    MUMBAI: India’s leading Hindi news channel Aaj Tak on Thursday added another feather to its cap in week 9 of 2019 as per the BARC data released to its subscribers.

    According to Aaj Tak, it fared better than Hindi GECs during the four-day period when the national discourse was dominated by India’s air strikes in Balakot and the news surrounding wing commander Abhinandan’s capture and return to India.

    When it came to news channels, Aaj Tak commanded more than 40 per cent higher viewership than its closest competitor in week 9. Interestingly, that margin went up 47% in the last four days. According to the channel, it reached 21 crore consumers in week 9 across genres.

    Aaj Tak dominated the chart with 4,62,693 impression ‘000s in week 9, followed by ABP News on the second position with 3,30,055 impression ‘000s. During the last four days, Aaj Tak remained in pole position with 3,30,055 impression ‘000s.

    “Since demonetisation in November 2016, Hindi news has been going up. The numbers that we saw last week have been tremendous. Nearly half of the Hindi speaking market in India, which is about 280 million people, watched Hindi news. Normally people watch 40 minutes of Hindi news per day, this week they watched 68 minutes daily. All the channels did a good job of covering the events, and hence the numbers,” BARC India CEO Partho Dasgupta told Aaj Tak.

    Aaj Tak says it was the no.1 TV channel in India, beating the likes of Star plus, Star Sports Hindi and Sun TV,  on the day wing commander Abhinandan returned to India (Source: BARC, Market: India, TG:2+, Date: 01st March'19, Gross Impression in 000s)

  • BARC responds after TRAI directive on ratings, TV viewership

    BARC responds after TRAI directive on ratings, TV viewership

    MUMBAI: After noticing that BARC India had stopped publishing TV viewership data on its website after the implementation of the new tariff order, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), in a sternly worded letter, warned it to publish data for week ending 8 February by 25 February or else face consequences under the TRAI Act.

    BARC India has now released its statement on the same. It says, “To set the record straight, BARC India has not stopped publishing its viewership data. Every week, at 11 am sharp, all our subscribers have been getting all India weekly data without a hitch for the last 175 weeks, including the last 2 weeks that correspond to the NTO transition.

    “However, we have published data of last 2 weeks with the caveat that there are changes taking place on ground due to NTO rollout due to which viewership numbers will be volatile during the transition period. The India Society of Advertisers (ISA) too has advised its members that our data should not be used for media planning and buying in the transition period.

    “We also publish a limited amount of data on our website – intended only for larger benefit and information of trade and media. We temporarily held back release of this select headline data on our website. We did this purely to avoid misrepresentation of such data (Top 5 channels/programs etc) without looking at the larger context of NTO rollout and resulting volatility which could be misleading, lead to confusion and be counter-productive.

    “Our position is also aligned to Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Guidelines that govern us. The guidelines clearly say that “…data generated by the rating agency be made available, on paid basis, to all interested stakeholders…”. And “Sharing of the data/reports with a third party or in public domain be allowed subject to the fair usage policy of the rating agency. Such fair usage policy shall be provided on the website of the rating agency.”

    “TRAI has advised us that we should also consider resuming the display of top channels and programs data on our website. We are taking a considered view on that post consultation with our stakeholders.”

  • Broadcasters split over TRAI’s directive to BARC on TV viewership data

    Broadcasters split over TRAI’s directive to BARC on TV viewership data

    MUMBAI: The latest episode in the ongoing tariff order implementation saga saw industry watchdog and regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), direct TV ratings monitoring body – Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) – to publish ratings and TV viewership data from the week ending 8 February on its website with immediate effect. BARC, which was set up as an industry-funded body, citing the implementation of the new framework, has been releasing the data only to its subscribers. Earlier, the audience measurement firm published the weekly data on its website every Thursday.

    Indiantelevision.com spoke to several broadcasters, none of who wanted to be identified, about the latest development to gain perspective.

    “ISA has already advised that you should not use this data for planning. If there is a transition happening it will reflect in the data. Advertisers need to figure out how they want to maximise their investment in the market place. In my point of view, it (weekly data) should be used as a broad indicator. I’m in the favour of it being published,” the CEO of a news network said.

    “This is the transition period and they (BARC) are not publishing on the site but data is available between all the stakeholders, agencies, clients and broadcaster. In my opinion, the people who are not paying for the data should not get the data,” said another CEO of a news network.

    Recently, TRAI extended the deadline for consumers to select television channels under its new tariff regime till 31 March. Subscribers that don’t opt for new channels would be moved to ‘Best Fit Plans’, which would be developed as per usage pattern, language and channel popularity, the sector regulator said in its statement.

    “There are two ways to look at it—if the ratings are being published given the level of disruption, advertisers and marketers would want to know what is going on at the ground level. Implementation takes time and some markets may have done more implementation than other markets. So, if the data is viewed in that light then it is fine but if it’s not then it starts becoming a bit of an issue because people will plan based out of an erratic pattern and obviously no one wants that,” argued a business head of a major network.

    The Indian Society of Advertisers' (ISA) executive council had advised its members to not use the BARC data for media buying, planning and evaluation perspective during the transition period, which it feels will stretch up to six weeks.

    “If people view the interim data correctly and look at it and understand what it is over a period of time, then it is fine. But if they make decisions by viewing one week or two week data, then that’s when mistakes will be made. This is why there were two thoughts whether to publish the data or not. But on the other hand, it is good because people will see the progress of whether a channel is up or down. I think people should use this and make plans for the medium to long term,” he further added.

    The sector regulator had asked BARC to furnish compliance by 25 February 2019, "failing which, appropriate action would be initiated" under relevant sections of the TRAI Act.

    “According to me, BARC should publish the data. There’s no logic for them to not publish the viewership data. The only thing here is that consumers may be misguided because of the fluctuating viewership ratings of the channels,” opined the promoter of a regional network.

    According to TRAI, BARC has ignored its previous directives of publishing ratings and viewership data for television channels.

    Several industry watchers told Indiantelevision.com that it was in fact the broadcasters that weren’t keen on weekly data being published on the BARC website.

    “Yes, nobody was in favour of the data being published initially. Now that the system has somewhat stabilised, we are better equipped to tackle potential issues. TRAI’s directive is on expected lines,” said a senior executive of a major broadcast network.

    TRAI held a meeting on Friday with distribution platform operators (DPOs) where it was informed that almost all cable consumers have either made their channel preferences or moved to ‘best fit plan’ under the new tariff regime.

    The meeting was attended by multi-system operators (MSO) and all major DTH players to review the progress of migration of TV viewers under the new framework.

    "According to inputs received by the regulator from players, in the case of DTH services, about 43 per cent customers have made their channel preferences known. When combined with statistics for ‘best fit plan’, this number rises to 57 per cent," stated TRAI secretary SK Gupta.

  • IAMAI suggests advertisers pay 0.25% of media spends to strengthen BARC measurement

    IAMAI suggests advertisers pay 0.25% of media spends to strengthen BARC measurement

    MUMBAI: Presenting counter comments to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) consultation paper on BARC TV viewership measurement, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has said that advertisers can pay 0.25 per cent of their media spends for TV viewership measurement every year. It will not only help them in making judicious investments but will also largely contribute to the process of increasing panel size for audience measurement.

    The association noted this in response to the question asking about methodologies and technologies to rapidly increase the panel size for television audience measurement and the related commercial challenges. It wrote, “Use of multiple technologies such as peoplemeter, RPD, channel video players, softwares measuring the consumption of OTT and data modelling should help increase the overall sample size without commensurate increase in the costs. Advertisers can pay 0.25 per cent of their media spend for measurement every year to make the currency more robust which in-turn helps them to make judicious investments.”

    IAMAI also stated that it feels Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) and The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) members, who hold 20 per cent share each in BARC, are not much involved in the currency.

    It mentioned in its counter comments, “At present, IBF owns 60 per cent of BARC and 20 per cent each is owned by AAAI and ISA. As a result, IBF has a greater say in the functioning of BARC. However, globally, higher percentage of revenue is contributed by media owners.”

    “In past TRAI consulting papers, most contributions also came from the media owners. It seems ISA and AAAI members are not that involved with overall currency. Consultation with these constituents may help ensure equal contribution in functioning of BARC by all the three industry bodies, irrespective of the share of revenue contributed. Presently it is felt that with 60 per cent share IBF controls day-to-day functioning of BARC and future course of action,” the comment further read.

    IAMAI also vouched for introducing a competitive currency of viewership management; one based on peoplemeter and the other based on RPD.

    It noted, “We can do this for different types of data, whether from the set-top box in the home or mobile services that enable subscriber viewing on tablets or phones. This will add Digital Viewership Measurement, which is currently missing.”

    “The 2nd study of RPD can be done with Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), who represents most of the digital media and publishers, in partnership with relevant stakeholders,” its comment mentioned.

    Most of the broadcasters, in their responses to the paper, had denied the need of introducing competition in the viewership measurement domain, citing reasons like it would lead to chaos and duplication of data and skewing of results to the convenience of a few stakeholders.

    TRAI had released the said consultation paper in December last year to seek suggestions on how the existing TV viewership management system can be made more robust. It asked several important questions to various stakeholders, including if the current measuring system is apposite, should the sample size of the population be increased, and related commercial viabilities of the responses.

    The stakeholders were asked to file the comments by 2 January and counter comments by 16 January. However, the dates were further extended to 2 February and 16 February, respectively.