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Tag: Nakul Chopra

  • Gaurav Banerjee appointed chairman of BARC India

    Gaurav Banerjee appointed chairman of BARC India

    MUMBAI: Gaurav Banerjee, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI)’s Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer has been appointed as Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India’s new Chairman at its Board Meeting on 1st August 2025. This is with immediate effect. He takes over from Shashi Sinha, executive chairman of IPG Mediabrands India, who served as BARC India’s chairman for over three years.  

    Mr. Banerjee is a distinguished leader with over two decades of experience in the Media and Entertainment industry and also represents Indian Broadcasting & Digital Foundation (IBDF) as its Vice President.  He is a director on the boards of MSM-Worldwide Factual Media Private Limited and Bangla Entertainment Private Limited.

    Speaking on being elected as BARC India’s new Chairman, Gaurav Banerjee, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, SPNI, said, “BARC India continues to empower stakeholders across the ecosystem with data driven decision making and it is a privilege to take on the role of Chairman at the world’s largest television audience measurement company. A big thank you to Shashi Sinha for his exceptional leadership and steady guidance over the last three years. As we navigate a rapidly converging media landscape, I look forward to continue strengthening BARC’s position as a trusted and credible currency for TV measurement in India.”

    Shashi Sinha, Executive Chairman of IPG Mediabrands India, and the outgoing Chairman of BARC India, said, “Over the last few years, I have had the opportunity to partner with BARC and the various committees at different levels. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the entire team at BARC for their unwavering support and collaboration. I would also like to extend a warm welcome to our new Chairman, Gaurav Banerjee. I am confident that with his unique leadership style, BARC will continue to grow and innovate to meet the evolving needs of our industry.”

    Nakul Chopra, CEO, BARC India, added, “We welcome Gaurav Banerjee as our new Chairman. His leadership will be invaluable as BARC continues to evolve and serve the dynamic needs of the broadcast and advertising ecosystem. We would also like to express our deep respect and thanks to Shashi Sinha for his stewardship and commitment to BARC. His tenure has been instrumental in enhancing data granularity while reinforcing BARC’s dedication and commitment to the industry.”

  • Dr Bikramjit Chaudhuri to join as the new chief of measurement science & analytics, BARC India

    Dr Bikramjit Chaudhuri to join as the new chief of measurement science & analytics, BARC India

    Mumbai: Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India has announced the appointment of Dr Bikramjit Chaudhuri as its new chief of measurement science & analytics. He will succeed Dr Derrick Gray, a veteran Audience Measurement and Advanced Analytics executive, who has been a well-respected member of the BARC India family for six incredible years.

    Dr Bikramjit Chaudhuri (Bikram) is a PhD from IIT Bombay and holds a master of statistics degree from the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. He comes in with a rich experience spanning over three decades in the areas of Statistics, Stochastic Modelling, Market Measurement, Consumer Segmentation, AI & ML, Demand Forecasting and Big Data Analytics. He has several research papers, publications, and patents in these aspects under his belt.

    Bikram is currently associated with the Datamatics Group of Companies as the Global Head of Data Science & Advanced Analytics, since 2016. Prior to Datamatics, Bikram has held multiple leadership roles, and has led large teams of senior talent across levels at KPMG, Nielsen and ZS Associates.

    Sharing his enthusiasm, Bikram said, “I am excited to join BARC India as the Chief of Measurement Science & Analytics. It will be an absolute honour and privilege to be a part of a multitalented and versatile team that runs the largest Audience Measurement system in the world, in one of the most complex multimedia markets. I am looking forward to leveraging my deep expertise and diverse experience to further evolve the current measurement system to meet the growing needs of the industry. Looking forward to an exhilarating journey and a fulfilling association with BARC India.”

    BARC India chief executive officer Nakul Chopra said, “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.”

  • NBF demands BARC to urgently release news genre ratings

    NBF demands BARC to urgently release news genre ratings

    Mumbai: The News Broadcasters Federation (NBF) has demanded BARC to resume the release of audience measurement data for the news genre which has been unilaterally withheld for almost a year.

    While registering its demand in a letter addressed to BARC CEO Nakul Chopra, the NBF said, “As the only industry body the representing the business interest and editorial freedom of news TV channels, NBF strongly iterate to be included and consulted on all issues surrounding the release of TRP data for news genre.”

    Listing major concerns on the issue, it stated that there was no legitimate reason or rationale for a pause in ratings for one specific genre. “If the process of BARC is faulty and is being reworked, the entertainment and other genres which contribute 88 per cent continue to get the rating data. However, the news genre which constitutes only 12 per cent has been victimised; though the metering boxes and data collection is common for all genres,” the federation said.

    The NBF also alleged that vested corporate interests are overshadowing industry welfare, and this has caused a loss of credibility and revenue to the news genre. In addition, news broadcasters are losing the trust of the viewers and the advertisers are increasingly suspicious about the genuine performance of the channels.

  • BARC ex-CEO Sunil Lulla announces new venture ‘The Linus Adventures’

    BARC ex-CEO Sunil Lulla announces new venture ‘The Linus Adventures’

    Mumbai: Sunil Lulla, the ex-CEO of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) who recently stepped down from his position at the TV measurement company to pursue entrepreneurial ambitions, has announced his new venture ‘The Linus Adverntures’, along with a gamut of other career and personal interests that he will be undertaking.  

    The Linus Adventures will assist promoters and CXOs scale their business and become leader brands. Additionally, Lulla will be starting a new chapter as a co-founder of a UAE-based edtech start-up focussed on India and MENA region, the purpose of which will be to nurture the next generations by providing them holistic development opportunities from an early stage in life.

    Besides, Lulla will continue to remain an active angel investor in early-stage start-ups across multiple domains. 

    On a more personal front, going forward, he will vigorously support Children’s Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA) which transforms the attitudes and behaviour of children to ensure a sustainable future. Also interested in learning a new way of running known as Maximum Aerobic Function/Low Heart Rate which helps to breathe smarter, Lulla hopes to ‘Run-Jog-Sprint-Recover’ to successfully complete many marathons and stay more refreshed. 

    “After four decades of a fulfilling and an exciting ‘employee life’, I now embark on a ‘portfolio career’; an entrepreneurial journey which not only brings to the fore my diverse experiences but also creates meaningful opportunities to make a difference to those around me,” said Sunil Lulla. “I am grateful for the privilege of working with some of the finest people and professionals without whom none of the successes would have been possible. My roller-coaster ride will continue with the good wishes and affection of my family, friends, and well-wishers. I celebrate my new beginning on a new stage with a new play.”

    A media industry veteran, Lulla began his career with HMV/Sa Re Ga Ma and worked with leading brands including Grey Group, Times Television Network, SET, MTV, J Walter Thompson, and most recently BARC, India. 

    Lulla had taken over the reins as the CEO of BARC, India from Partho Dasgupta in 2019. He is succeeded by Nakul Chopra.

  • Nakul Chopra appointed as CEO of BARC India

    Nakul Chopra appointed as CEO of BARC India

    Mumbai: Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India has appointed Nakul Chopra as the chief executive officer of the TV audience measurement agency, effective 25 August. Chopra succeeds Sunil Lulla, who is moving on from the organisation to pursue his ambition as an entrepreneur.

    Chopra joined the BARC India Board in 2016 and was subsequently appointed the chairman of the company from 2018 to 2019. In January 2020, he was appointed a member of its Oversight Committee.

    “A marketing and media veteran of nearly four decades, Chopra brings with him a rich repertoire of experience in financial & general management, process management as well as navigating the corporate legal environment,” said BARC India in a media statement. “He has been an integral part of the Advertising and Media fraternity, and BARC India will benefit from his wealth of knowledge and experience of over four decades.”

    On his new role, Chopra said,“I have had the benefit of a long association with BARC. The organisation has grown in measure and strength. TV continues to be the definitive screen of the Indian home – its strong reach and connect continues to elicit the trust of advertisers. I look forward to working with the very capable BARC team in further building on TV measurement and continuing the journey toward screen agnostic measurement.”

    He has also held the position of CEO, India & South Asia, Publicis Worldwide, from 2004-17. Prior to that he served as EVP, Trikaya Grey Advertising from 1989 to 1995. Chopra has also been the President, Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) from Aug 2016 – July 2018.  

    Meanwhile, the outgoing CEO, Sunil Lulla said he is looking forward to embarking upon an entrepreneurial journey after four decades of an exciting career in professional services. “I am privileged to have been able to contribute to BARC and this has been possible only because of the excellent team of professionals, a very supportive Board and the gold standard of Board-appointed committees. I wish Nakul Chopra all the success,” said Lulla, who had taken over the reins at the TV measurement company from Partho Dasgupta in 2019. 

    BARC India chairman, Punit Goenka said, “I thank Sunil for his stewardship of BARC and his efforts to enhance the strength of the BARC currency. I am very happy to welcome Nakul as the natural and unanimous choice of the Board for the continuing journey of adding robustness to the BARC currency and strengthening the governance of the world’s largest television audience measurement body”.

  • BARC India to mitigate impact of landing page on TV viewership

    BARC India to mitigate impact of landing page on TV viewership

    MUMBAI:  As a part of its ongoing ‘data validation quality initiative’ aimed at improving measurement science and mitigating impact on viewership of extraneous factors, BARC India is introducing algorithms into its data validation method to mitigate the impact of landing page on viewership data across all genres of channels. Data release for Week 34, 2020, data starting 22 August 2020, release date 03 September 2020 will reflect the new initiative.

    “The results of hundreds of hours of research and several months of rigorous development and testing are very promising. BARC India will now be able to mitigate any landing page anomaly to better reflect viewer’s choice.” says, BARC India measurement science and business analytics chief Dr Derrick Gray. He adds, “the existing method was based on symptomatic statistics and we have improved upon it with a method that directly uses inferential statistics to deliver better results across all genres.”

    Complimenting the efforts of Dr Gray and his team, BARC India CEO Sunil Lulla says, “Considering that the data provided by BARC India builds the currency of the advertising trade, we consistently strive to ensure that our data capture, representation, and reporting be as scientific and accurate as possible. This new validation rule will further strengthen the rating currency and provide a level playing field to small and large broadcasters.”

    “The ‘Data Validation Quality Initiative’ instituted by BARC India in June 2019 under the supervision of the Oversight Committee involves ongoing industry stakeholder consultations and internal reviews to identify dynamic improvement needed to continue strengthening the robustness of its ratings”, says Oversight Committee & BARC India board member Nakul Chopra, about the ‘Data Validation Quality Initiative’.

  • 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.

  • Lodestar UM name media agency on day 1 at ABBY Awards

    Lodestar UM name media agency on day 1 at ABBY Awards

    GOA: Goafest 2018, India’s foremost advertising, media and marketing convention felicitating creative thinking in India, kick-started its annual festival yesterday. This year, the festival is also celebrating 50 years of the prestigious Abby Awards, which have been handed out to creative geniuses over the years for their stellar work that has, today, put India on the global map where advertising, media and marketing is concerned.

    The industry conclave presented by Discovery marked the first session of the day with Baba Ramdev who enthralled the audience by speaking about building inclusive, sustainable, decentralised and just brands. He enlightened them about the philosophy behind the brand Patanjali and stressed upon the need for marketers to build an emotional connect with the consumer. His session was followed by a talk by Pepperfry chief marketing officer and head of new business Kashyap Vadapalli who stressed the importance of building trust amongst consumers.

    As the sun went down on day one, it was time for the presentation of the publisher and media Abbys which recognise the excellence in the use of media such as print, TV, cinema, outdoor, radio, events, digital and social media amongst others. A total of 38 media Abbys and 16 publisher Abbys were awarded. While Lodestar UM led the media Abbys with an impressive 10 awards including four gold medals, the highest number of gold, Jagran Prakashan, scored a total of five metals, thus taking a lead in the publisher Abbys. Other notable winners for the evening included Dentsu Webchutney in the media Abbys category with three silvers and one gold and Times of India that bagged two gold medals in the publisher Abby category.

    This year, twelve creative legends were roped in to form the master jury which had been entrusted with the task of screening all the entries received, across all the categories and verticals and then to identify those worthy of being shortlisted and receiving the award. The 2018 edition of the Abby Awards also saw a number of categories and sub-categories being rationalised, to ensure relevance and effectiveness.

    Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) president Nakul Chopra says, “We started Goafest all those years ago with the aim to bring together people from the world of advertising, media and marketing together to discuss and exchange exciting ideas. But today, this festival has grown into becoming one of the biggest congregations of some of the most brilliant creative minds in the country. It is these young people, who come here in droves to learn from and interact with the legends who paved the creative way for them, who make Goafest a festival worth attending. I am deeply grateful to the fraternity present here for making Goafest what it is today.”

    Discussing the Abby Awards to be handed out at Goafest 2018, The Advertising Club president Vikram Sakhuja adds, “Over the last 50 years, the awards went through a lot of changes. So, we spoke to heads of agencies, to industry leaders and more importantly, to the young creative workforce out there who came up with two key changes to the awards this year. The changes include the rationalisation of categories to stay relevant to today’s young and dynamic creative geniuses and the formation of a master jury made up of industry masters to guarantee effectiveness. And it gives me immense pleasure to see the industry not only embracing these changes with open arms but also supporting us in our endeavour to keep improving the quality of the awards being handed out.”

    Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) chairman of Goafest 2018 and vice president Ashish Bhasin mentions, “Goafest is always a great reminder of the amazing amount of creative talent we have in India. Seeing such young people brimming with energy, learning from the best in the industry and congregating together to exchange ideas is what enriches creative thinking. This year, we have upped the ante by bringing in a lot of technological changes and of course by sprucing up our speaker line up by bringing in stalwarts from varied backgrounds – be it advertising, marketing, music, film, yoga and much more.”

    Stay tuned for more updates from Goa.

  • Nakul Chopra is new BARC chairman

    Nakul Chopra is new BARC chairman

    MUMBAI: Nakul Chopra, currently president of Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and senior advisor of Publicis Communications, has been elected as the next chairman of BARC India. Chopra succeeds Viacom18 group CEO Sudhanshu Vats, who has completed his one-year tenure as chairman.

    Chopra will be the third chairman of BARC India. He joined the BARC India Board in September 2016 and since then has been an integral part of the various decisions taken by the Board.

    “BARC India has been very busy in the past one year, as it further consolidated its TV measurement business. 2017 has also been the year when groundwork was done for key future projects, and in the year ahead I am looking forward to oversee their implementation. Top on that list is the rollout of EKAM – our digital measurement products. Expansion of TV sample using Return Path Data will be the other big piece to watch out for. We are all thankful to Sudhanshu for his leadership over the past year and I very much look forward to working closely with Partho and his excellent team over the coming year,” said Nakul Chopra on being elected as BARC India Chairman.

    Under chairmanship of Vats, BARC India expanded its sample panel homes from 20,000 to 30,000. Under his tenure, BARC India also announced its partnership with multi-system operator DEN Networks for return path data and announced the digital measurement partner.

    “BARC is a bold, paradigm-changing initiative that has already started to redefine our industry. Since inception, BARC has tackled several challenges while several remain. Going forward, I would urge all stakeholders to continue to take cognizance of the pace of change in our sector and the urgent need for us to adapt. A few years out, the next generation of industry leaders needs to look back and admire our shared legacy. This means creating a future-ready, sustainable organization with each of us making some concessions for the greater good. I wish Nakul the very best as he takes on the reins of a hard-working, industry-critical operation in a fast-changing operating landscape,” said Vats.

    Vats has been on the board of BARC India since its inception and will continue in his capacity as a board member.

    Said BARC India CEO Partho Dasgupta, “I am thankful to Sudhanshu for his guidance and support to the team. Our focus now is to establish ourselves as an insights company. Nakul in his new role as BARC India chairman will be a great driving force in launching our digital-measurement products, expanding sample homes via RPD, and launching a suite of new products.”

  • Goafest 2017 receives 4500 entries from 329 companies

    GOA: Goafest 2017, India’s foremost advertising, media and marketing convention kick started its annual festival with a ceremonial popping of the champagne bottle to herald a brand-new edition of the event. The day one of the festival saw an exciting conclave with industry stalwarts such as Upasana Taku of Mobikwik, Hemant Malik of ITC Limited and Acharya Balkrishna of Patanjali Ayurved taking the center stage.

    In its 12th year, the convention has received a whopping number of 4500 entries with about 2500 delegates attending the three-day long festival. This year, Goafest has received the highest number of sponsors. What’s more? It has also gone digital with an app and a website this year. The festival is also going green in partnership with National Geographic who have arranged several campaigns like conservation of water, recycled paper, etc.

    Advertising Agencies Association of India president Nakul Chopra said, “Twelve years ago, Goafest began as an event for people from the world of advertising to get together to network and celebrate quality work. Today, it gives me immense pleasure to see how this festival has grown into becoming one of the foremost events in the creative calendar. It’s extremely encouraging for us to see so many young people participating in the event with such enthusiasm – and not just attending the ABBYs but also showing immense amount of interest in the varied seminars that we have lined up this year. If the scene on day one is anything to go by, I’m pretty sure the next two days are going to be just as exciting with some exemplary speakers taking the stage and some must attend seminars taking place.”

    The industry body claims to have invested approximately 8-10 crore in the event this year.

    The Advertising Club president Raj Nayak said, “Goafest is the world’s largest industry event in the advertising industry – organized by two industry bodies coming together. In the true sense, it is an event by Indians, for Indians and completely made in India. Goafest is the world’s largest even organised by an industry body. It is not for profit. This year, we had over 300 jurors from across the country coming together to judge the entries for which awards will be presented over these three days of the event…with almost 112 of them judging tonight’s Media and Publishing ABBYs. Goafest, when it started was only a creative awards ceremony. However, today, in its twelfth edition, it has become a festival of knowledge, wisdom, entertainment, fun and a great networking opportunity.”

    Nayak also said that the event can get almost 10000 people provided there is an infrastructure to support the same.

    Goafest 2017 chairman Ashish Bhasin said, “With changing times, Goafest has also evolved. For the first time Goafest is going green in part by getting the delegates visiting the event to conserve water and taking other baby steps to our bit for the environment. This year we have heavily subsidized entry to let more and more young people to attend the event. It is extremely exciting for us to see so many young people participating in the event and appreciating the changes we have brought in. Curious young minds are keen to attend seminars and talks by interesting speakers this year. Day 1 has been such a huge success. We can only see this getting better and better over the next two days.”

    Chairman of the Awards Governing Council of Goafest 2017 Ramesh Narayan added, “The atmosphere at Goafest is always filled with excitement, camaraderie and a whole lot of fun. And this year is no different. It is absolutely heartening to see members of the advertising and marketing fraternity sending in some wonderful entries this year which have kept the jury on their toes. Judging any award is a difficult process and more so when you’re pitting one excellent entry against another. Judging by the level of excitement today, I’m sure that the next two days are going to be absolutely spectacular.”

    With industry specific conclaves to expert seminars and ABBYs presentations, the Goafest ABBYs 2017 presented by the The Advertising Club and The AAA’ of I has once again seen the entire advertising and marketing community descend upon the silver sands of North Goa to celebrate excellence in creativity across media platforms and genres.