ITV

Tag: Nielsen

  • I&B secretary calls for creating indigenous TV ratings system

    MUMBAI: Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Secretary Uday Kumar Varma has called for development of an indigenous television ratings system for the India broadcasting sector.

    During the keynote speech at BES Expo in New Delhi, Varma said the current ratings system lacks accuracy and is inadequate for a huge country like India.

    TAM Media Research, a joint-venture between Nielsen and Kantar Media, is India‘s sole TV audience measurement agency. It has been under fire from broadcasters who have called for a more corrective, accurate and transparent ratings system under the aegis of Broadcasters Audience Research Council (Barc).

    “Why is it that we have to import a system which each one of us know is far from accurate and perfect,” Varma told the gathering at BES Expo in the presence of I&B minister Manish Tewari and National Knowledge Commission chairman Sam Pitroda.

    Varma added, “I do know that since it is not a direct concern of the government we are not paying attention to this but it is time that we pay attention to this particular dimension — why is it that in a country like ours with a population of billion plus, we are not able to develop our own indigenous and unique system of TV viewing system.”

    Varma is having the support of Multi Screen Media CEO and Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) president Man Jit Singh. Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Singh expressed concurrence with Varma’s views of the need to have an indigenous ratings system.

    “I agree with Mr Varma’s observation that we should have an indigenous ratings system. In fact, Barc is an indigenous ratings system. The sampling, equipments, and technology will be indigenous. The measurement meters can be sourced from any country,” says Singh.

    It is pertinent to note here that Broadcasters Audience Research Council (Barc), a joint venture of IBF, Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), and Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA), has started the process of creating a new measurement system. It issued a global Request for Information (RFI) on state-of-the-art ratings systems last month and would be following it up with a Request for Proposal.

    Making a case for government intervention in TV viewership measurement, Varma said TRP impacts the government since it has a presence in television broadcasting through public broadcaster Doordarshan which is not getting a fair deal from the existing set-up.

    “Ordinarily, the government should not be concerned about it (TV viewership measurement) because it is a service for which there is a demand and there is somebody who is supplying it,” he said.

    “So if the broadcasting was only in the private sector, we need not be worried except on the ground of public interest. If TRP becomes a reason for deterioration of content I think there is a legitimate ground for the government to intervene.”

    He also said that government intervention becomes inevitable if the ratings system becomes a cause for degradation in content that comes on television.

    “In this case we not only have this ground but also the fact that we have a substantial public broadcaster who may not be getting a fair deal from the existing measurement system of television viewing It is certainly a concern where the government has to intervene,” Varma averred.

    Varma also wondered how 8,000 homes can capture viewership trends for a country of the size of India with a billion plus population and close to 150 million television homes.

    “The issue is that how is it that the whole measurement system is being created by just a set of 8,000 or 9,000 peoplemeters. As a lay man, I am quite concerned about it. Is this really the only possible technology to measure the TV viewing of the people?” he questioned.

    Varma said the issue of TV viewership measurement requires urgent attention and it was imperative to look for alternative.

    “I really do not know whether there have been any discussions on this count anywhere but this extremely important issue needs our attention. Is peoplemeters the instrument to measure TV viewing or are there alternatives available.”

  • Movie going patterns remain stable in the US: Nielsen

    Movie going patterns remain stable in the US: Nielsen

    MUMBAI: Media research company Nielsen has taken a look at annual moviegoer trends in the US as the awards season continues. According to Nielsen National Research Group‘s 2012 American Movie going report, 70 per cent of Americans aged 12 and older reported seeing one or more movies at a theater in the last 12 months, which is in line with the earlier year trend.

    The demographic makeup of the movie going audience has remained relatively consistent over the last couple of years, but the proportion of younger moviegoers (12-24) and oldest moviegoers (65-74) has grown gradually at the expense of middle-aged moviegoers (25-54).

    Overall attendance to new release movies was on par with a year ago (6.8 movies per person on average, compared with 6.9 in 2011), while movie going increased among Hispanics (12 per cent), people aged 25-34 (seven per cent), youths 12-17 (three per cent) and males (three per cent). Although there were slightly more female moviegoers than male moviegoers in 2012 (51 per cent and 49 per cent respectively), men accounted for 55 per cent of theatrical attendance.

    When looking at the movie going audience by race/ethnicity, Hispanics were the heaviest moviegoers, as they represented 18 per cent of the movie going population, but accounted for 25 per cent of all movies seen. Hispanics were also the only demographic group that went to more movies in 2012 than in the prior year-9.5 movies on average compared with 8.5 in 2011.

    The 2012 report highlights that going to the movie theater seems to carry a particularly positive cultural significance for Hispanics, as they were considerably more likely than non-Hispanics to view going to a theater as a way to spend time with their family and friends (86 per cent versus 77 per cent). They also were more likely to spend time discussing the movies after seeing them (66 per cent versus 53 per cent).

  • US marketers to spend more on social media ads: Nielsen

    US marketers to spend more on social media ads: Nielsen

    MUMBAI: Marketers in US are likely to ramp up their ad spends on social media as consumers increasingly spend more time online compared to traditional media, according to a recent survey commissioned by Vizu, a Nielsen company.

    According to the study, consumers spend 20 per cent of their online time and 30 per cent of their smartphone time on social media-accounting for a whopping 121 billion minutes each month.

    Around 89 per cent of the advertisers surveyed said they use free tools-such as pages, posts, likes and pins-75 percent say they currently invest in paid social media advertising, which includes tactics such as sponsored content, brand graphs and driving likes. In fact, 64 per cent plan to spend more on social in the future.

    Social media ad budgets are small-but growing: Paid social media advertising is still relatively new. The majority of advertisers and agencies surveyed said they‘d been using paid social media advertising for less than three years. One-fifth (20 per cent) said they‘d only started in the past year. Plus, the majority (70 per cent) indicated that they dedicated 10 per cent or less of their overall 2012 online advertising budget to paid social media.

    The ad mix will likely shift this year, however, as the majority of advertisers (64 per cent) plan to boost their paid social media advertising budgets. While the increases will likely be modest-primarily between 1 and 10 per cent-the growth is a positive sign for this young channel that hasn‘t traditionally had a dedicated budget. Currently, only 41 per cent of advertisers report having a dedicated paid social media ad budget. To fund the increase in paid social media advertising activity, the majority plan to pull budget from other channels-both on and offline.

  • Room for smartphone growth in emerging countries: Nielsen

    Room for smartphone growth in emerging countries: Nielsen

    MUMBAI: While smartphones have gone mainstream in many regions around the globe, adoption among emerging countries is still developing. According to new research from Nielsen, China is the only country among the high-growth Bric (Brazil, Russia, India, China) markets where smartphones are predominant, owned by two-thirds of Chinese mobile subscribers as of the first half of 2012.

    In contrast, feature phones—devices with no touchscreen, QWERTY keypad or operating system—are still dominant in India and Russia, owned by 80 per cent and 51 per cent of mobile subscribers, respectively.

    There’s no clear favourite type of mobile device in Brazil, with mobile ownership split between 44 percent feature phones, 36 per cent smartphones and 21 per cent multimedia phones (touchscreen and/or QWERTY keypad, but no operating system).

    Much the same manner as social media, smartphones–with their advanced functionality and access to a multitude of apps–influence everything from consumers’ interaction with both brands and each other, to and shopping and purchase decisions.

  • Global ad spend up by 4.3 per cent in 3Q: Nielsen

    MUMBAI: The global ad market saw healthy growth during the third quarter of 2012, according to US media research company Nielsen‘s quarterly Global AdView Pulse report.

    Spending was up by 4.3 per cent over Q3 2011, to $139 billion. This gain outpaced the 2.7 per cent growth seen in the first half of last year.

    An influx in advertising investments drove growth in the Middle East and Africa (up 18.9 per cent YTD), as well as in North America. The North American market showed a five per cent increase through September, bolstered by an impressive 10.2 per cent increase during the third quarter.

    In the US, both the automotive and industry and services categories increased by double digits year-over-year, for both the year-to-date and Q3. The industry and services category includes political ads, a big spend area leading up to the US presidential election.

    Nielsen global head, advertiser solutions Randall Beard said, “Growth in global ad spend accelerated in Q3.The Olympics, a major media event in all parts of the world, and the US presidential election helped drive investment up. We‘ll be watching carefully to see if the growth was sustained in Q4 and into 2013, or if there‘s a dip in comparison to this year.”

    Ad spend also grew in the Asia Pacific region, reporting a 2.7 percent increase in ad spend for the year-to-date through September and a 3.5 per cent increase for Q3. Ad spend for the region was supported by the recovery of China‘s advertising market, which showed positive ad-spending trends in Q3 (up 3.1 per cent) after two consecutive quarters of decline.

    Western Europe, which reported a 2.7 per cent decrease in year-over-year ad spending during the first half of 2012, saw deeper Q3 cuts in advertising (-4.8 per cent), as advertisers watched their budgets carefully due to ongoing economic instability. This decline contributed to a year-to-date decrease of 3.4 per cent in Europe.

  • Recapping 2012

    Recapping 2012

    The year 2012 was an action-packed one for the television broadcasting industry. India began its historic journey with digitisation and the first phase kicked off in November. NDTV filed a landmark case in New York against TAM Media Research and its holding companies Nielsen, Kantar Media and Cavendish Square Holding BV. Broadcasters united to put pressure for creation of a new Broadcasters Audience Research Council (Barc).

    The year also witnessed a slew of deals and marked the entry of two big industrial houses into television broadcasting — Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) by helping Raghav Bahl‘s Network18 group to snap up ETV and the Aditya Birla Group by acquiring a 27.5 per cent stake in Aroon Purie‘s Living Media, which runs TV Today Network.

    Sahara made an entry into cable TV distribution and acquired Digicable. Network18 Group formed a distribution company, IndiaCast, which will also house the syndication business and exploit content across all media platforms.

    It was the year in which Zee Network completed 20 years, after having pioneered private television broadcasting in India. The year saw a Hindi general entertainment channel Imagine, which was acquired by Turner from NDTV, being zapped, when it slipped below the second-rung Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs).

    The sports genre saw the exit of The Walt Disney Company with News Corp acquiring its 50 per cent interest in their joint venture ESPN Star Sports for $335 million. Sony, which has the rights for the Indian Premier League, launched its first sports television channel. After having agreed to buy Walt Disney‘s interest in ESPN Star Sports, Star India pipped Multi Screen Media (MSM) to bag BCCI media rights till 2008 for a whopping Rs 38.51 billion.

    There was a lot of action during the year in the kids TV genre. Though BBC‘s advertisement free Cbeebies channel exited India citing prohibitive carriage fees, a few kids‘ channels got added to the bouquet. Discovery Kids, Disney Junior, ZeeQ and Nick Jr were launched during the year, which coincided with the beginning of the compulsory shift to digital delivery of television channels in the country.

    Channel launches:

    • Star launches its second Hindi movie channel Movies OK under ‘Ok‘ brand
    • Star launches Bengali movie channel Star Jalsha Movies
    • Star-owned Asianet Communications launches Asianet Movies, the first satellite movie channel in Malayalam
    • Zeel launches Bengali movie channel Zee Bangla Cinema
    • After a football and cricket dedicated channel, Zeel launches its third specialised offering Ten Golf
    • Zeel enters kids genre with ZeeQ, an edutainment channel targeted at 4-14 kids
    • Viacom18 launches its third kids channel with preschool channel Nick Jr
    • Disney launches a full-fledged pre-school offering with Disney Junior
    • Discovery enters kids segment in India with Discovery Kids
    • MSM‘s much awaited sports channel Sony Six makes a debut during IPL
    • HBO partners Eros to announce launch of two ad free channels HBO Defined and HBO Hits
    • Reliance Broadcast Network (RBNL) and European entertainment network RTL Group joint-venture launch their first channel Big RTL Thrill
    • Big CBS, the joint venture between RBNL and CBS Corp, forays into regional TV space with the launch of its fourth channel, Spark Punjabi
    • Leading Gujarati dailies Sandesh and Gujarat Samachar enter television market with the launch of their news channels, GS TV News and Sandesh TV
    • 9X Media launches its international music channel 9XO
    • Softline Creations enters TV broadcasting with Cinema TV
    • Delhi-based production house AAP Media launches Bhojpuri entertainment channel Anjan TV

    Deals:

    • Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) marks his entry into media and entertainment space by investing in Network18
    • Media & Investments and TV18 Broadcast through an Independent Media Trust
    • News Corp and The Walt Disney Company end their Asian sports JV ESPN Star Sports with the former taking complete ownership of the sports broadcasting company for $335 million
    • Aditya Birla Group acquires 27.5 per cent stake in Aroon Purie-controlled Living Media, which runs TV Today Network
    • Sahara acquires 90 per cent stake in Digicable for $52 million
    • Sony Pictures Television, the parent company of Multi Screen Media (MSM), makes its regional foray as it agrees to acquire 30 per cent stake in Maa Network
    • Ajay Bijli-promoted PVR buys out promoter stake in Cinemax for Rs 3.95 billion to become biggest multiplex operator in the country
    • Karthikeya Sharma-promoted ITV Media snaps up News X from Indi Media, a joint venture between NaiDunia promoter and CEO
    • Vinay Chhajlani and former Business World editor Jehangir S Pocha
    • After a decade long rocky relationship, the Indian shareholders of MSM exit the television company with Sony Pictures Television (SPT) acquiring 32 per cent stake in MSM for $271 million
    • The Walt Disney Company buys out Ronnie Srewvala‘s stake in UTV Group for Rs 8.05 billion
    • CA Media picks up 49 per cent stake in Endemol India
    • Cisco becomes largest video and content security solutions provider in India with its $5 billion global acquisition of NDS

    Exits:

    • News Corp exits cable business in India as it divests 17.3 per cent stake in Hathway Cable for Rs 3.58 bn
    • Walt Disney‘s ESPN exits sports broadcasting in Asia following stake sale in ESS
    • News Corp exits news business in India and is in process of selling its 26 per cent stake in Media Content and Communications
    • Services (MCCS), the company that runs Star News (ABP News), Star Majha (ABP Majha) and Star Jalsha (ABP Majha), to JV partner ABP Group
    • Turner ends its expensive date with Hindi GEC space, shutters Imagine TV citing unviability
    • ABP Group exits Bengali GEC space by shutting Sananda TV more than a year after its launch
    • NDTV ends ad sales partnership with News Corp‘s Star India; to handle ad sales on its own

    Government

    • Information and Broadcasting ministry extends the digitisation deadline for the first phase of digitisation in four metros to 31 October
    • Ahead of digitisation, government raises foreign direct investment (FDI) ceiling to 74 per cent from 49 per cent in DTH and MSO biz; FDI limit in teleports and hubs set up for uplinking of television channels also raised to 74 per cent
    • Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari takes charge as the new Information and Broadcasting minister replacing Ambika Soni
    • Arasu fails to get DAS licence for Chennai despite repeated pleas to the government
    • MIB kicks-off the second phase of digitisation covering 38 cities and towns across 14 states
    • Rahul Khullar appointed as the new chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) for a three-year term
    • Former Supreme Court judge Justice Cyriac Joseph appointed as the new chairperson of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat)

    Some other milestones:

    • Star India bids a whopping Rs 38.51 billion to bag the BCCI media rights till 2018
    • Sun TV bags Hyderabad franchise for Rs 4.25 billion, bidding higher than PVP Ventures‘ Rs 3.45 billion
    • BCCI terminates Deccan Chargers franchise agreement followed by a protracted legal battle which ends with Supreme Court finally upholding Chargers termination
    • The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) and Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) form audience research joint body Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc)
    • New Delhi Television (NDTV) files a lawsuit against TAM and its holding companies in New York Supreme Court for manipulation of viewership data
    • Channel [V] stops airing Bollywood music from 1 July becomes a Youth GEC
    • TV18 and Viacom18 form distribution joint venture IndiaCast to distribute all channels and content of the two companies in India and abroad
    • Congress MP Naveen Jindal files FIR against Zee News for allegedly demanding Rs 1 billion in extortion to go slow on its coverage of Coal scam which leads to the arrest of Zee News and Zee Business editors Sudhir Chaudhary and Samir Ahluwalia
    • Aamir Khan makes his TV debut with Satyamev Jayate, which creates massive buzz in the social media
    • After yearlong negotiations, Sun TV strikes a distribution deal with Tamil Nadu government-owned Arasu Cable TV Corporation
    • Pepsi replaces DLF as the title sponsor of IPL, forks out Rs 3.95 billion to take the rights
    • Youth focussed channel Big CBS Spark transitions into a music channel
    • UTV bindass undergoes makeover, sheds UTV in its name and takes the positioning ‘Rest Less‘
    • MSM CEO Man Jit Singh is elected IBF president
    • History TV18 launches Urdu feed
    • Discovery Science goes regional with Hindi fee

  • Esha Media to enter TAM territory

    MUMBAI: Mumbai-based media monitoring service provider Esha Media Research Limited (EMRL) is foraying into the television audience measurement space.

    Television audience measurement or television ratings service is currently monopolised by TAM Media Research, a joint-venture of Nielsen and Kantar Media.

    Without revealing its plans in detail, EMRL Managing Director R S Iyer said the company‘s television viewership measurement instruments are being tested digitally.

    “We are interested in the television ratings space however I won‘t be able to reveal much about it at this point,” Iyer tells Indiantelevision.

    EMRL has been formed from the merger of Esha News Monitoring (ENM) with Laser Dot, a Hyderabad-based company listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Iyer was one of the founding promoters of ENM.

    Laser Dot was renamed as Esha Media Research Limited (EMRL) after the reverse merger and has become the country‘s only media monitoring services firm listed on an exchange.

    ENM braved an economic slowdown of 2008 and a failed sale deal with Octant Interactive in 2009 amidst the economic slowdown. It survived to tell a tale.

    The immediate goal before ENM founders was to raise capital to fund their growth plans and they found a way out with the plan to merge with Laser Dot, which was into printing and publishing.

    EMRL has set a two-pronged strategy: to upgrade its existing technology and to raise capital to expand in new areas with a pan-India footprint.

    Apart from television audience measurement, EMRL is also looking to foray into other newer areas which include Online Business Monitoring Report, Television Monitoring Intelligence Report, Online Print Media Monitoring, and Social Media Monitoring.

    “Our desire is to position EMRL as a complete media monitoring company and also have a pan India presence. Therefore, we decided to merge ENM with a listed entity so that it can raise adequate resources,” Iyer states.

    ENRL has already raised Rs 50 million of equity from high networth individuals (HNIs) and is in the process of mobilising another Rs 80 million from HNIs for expansion, says Iyer.

    During fiscal 2012, ENM had earned a net profit of Rs 5.2 million on revenues of Rs 111.5 million.

    “Merging with a listed company gave ENM adequate avenues to raise capital so that it can venture into other areas,” Iyer adds.

    EMRL is slated to also introduce a special product designed to track political developments and events which the company claims will be a first for the Indian market.

    All services will be available online breaking all the delivery restrictions, Iyer asserts.

    Apart from Iyer, ENM‘s founding directors included Jyoti Babar, Chhaya Parab, and Shilpa Pawar. The other shareholders of ENM included Iyer‘s friends and relatives.

    The shareholders of ENM now own 67 per cent of EMRL.

    The four founding directors of ENM would be on the board of EMRL. “The entire management of the listed entity now vests with the new team,” informs Iyer.

    Asked about the deal with Octant Interactive in 2009, Iyer said the agreement could not be completed as the company backed off due to recessionary fears. The hunt for capital finally saw the founders forging a partnership with Laser Dot last year.

    “During the time of recession in 2008-09, the working capital cycle got elongated due to slow recovery from debtors. ENM did not enjoy any working capital facilities from any bank or financial institution. It was a turbulent time as the company was going through an uncertain phase,” Iyer said reminiscing those days.

  • Nielsen acquires media & marketing research firm Arbitron

    MUMBAI: Nielsen Holdings, a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy, has said it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Arbitron, an international media and marketing research firm.

    Nielsen has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Arbitron for $48 per share in cash, representing a premium of approximately 26 per cent to Arbitron’s closing price on 17 December.

    Nielsen has a financing commitment for the total transaction amount. The transaction has been approved by the boards of both
    companies and is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory review.

    With Arbitron assets, Nielsen intends to further expand its Watch segment’s audience measurement across screens and forms of listening.

    “These integrated, innovative capabilities will enable broader measurement of consumer media behavior in more markets around the world. We will also bring local clients greater visibility to empower more precise advertising placement and campaign effectiveness,” said Nielsen President of Global Media Products and Advertiser Solutions Steve Hasker.

    “Radio reaches more than 92 per cent of all American teens and adults because they love to listen to music, talk, news and information while at home, at work and in their cars,” said Arbitron President and CEO William T. Kerr.

    “By combining Nielsen’s global capabilities and scale with Arbitron’s unique radio measurement and listening information, advertisers and media clients will have better insights into consumer behavior and the return on marketing investments.”

    Together, Nielsen and Arbitron generated total revenues of $6 billion and combined pro forma adjusted Ebitda of $1.7 billion based on the 12 months ended 30 September. Cost synergies associated with the acquisition are expected to be at least $20 million and will be largely driven by the integration of technology platforms and data acquisition efforts.

  • Nielsen and Twitter join hands to provide social TV rating

    MUMBAI: Global provider of information and consumer insights Nielsen and micro blogging site Twitter have entered am exclusive multi-year agreement to create the “Nielsen Twitter TV Rating” for the US market.

    Under this agreement, Nielsen and Twitter will deliver a syndicated-standard metric around the reach of the TV conversation on Twitter. The metric will be available for commercial use at the start of the fall 2013 TV season.

    The Nielsen Twitter TV Rating will serve to complement Nielsen’s existing TV ratings, giving TV networks and advertisers the real-time metrics required to understand TV audience social activity. These ratings will build on top of NM Incite’s SocialGuide audience engagement analytics platform.

    NM Incite is a joint venture between Nielsen and McKinsey & Co, and the hub of Nielsen’s social media analytics efforts.

    The proliferation of smartphones and tablets has generated a substantial ‘connected’ TV audience that is simultaneously watching television and accessing the Internet through these devices. This, in turn, will continue to create the opportunity for content providers to offer engaging interactive features for the viewers. As this form of viewer engagement evolves into a mainstream activity, it presents ways for content providers to enhance the viewing experience for our viewers and our advertisers.

    Nielsen Global Media Products and Advertiser Solutions president Steve Hasker said, “The Nielsen Twitter TV Rating is a significant step forward for the industry, particularly as programmers develop increasingly captivating live TV and new second-screen experiences, and advertisers create integrated ad campaigns that combine paid and earned media. As a media measurement leader we recognize that Twitter is the preeminent source of real-time television engagement data.”

    Twitter vice president of media Chloe Sladden said, “Our users love the shared experience of watching television while engaging with other viewers and show talent. Twitter has become the world‘s digital water cooler, where conversations about TV happen in real time. Nielsen is who the networks rely on to give better content to viewers and clearer results to marketers. This effort reflects Nielsen‘s foresight into the evolving nature of the TV viewing experience, and we’re looking forward to collaborating with Twitter ecosystem partners on this metric to help broadcasters and advertisers create truly social TV experiences.”

    According to a press statement by Nielsen, TV viewers discuss TV on Twitter, creating a new dynamic between audiences and programming. The service’s more than 140 million active users send one billion Tweets every two and a half days, the vast majority of which is public and conversational, making Twitter data a necessity in producing standardised metrics representing online and mobile conversations about television.

    CBS Corporation chief research officer David F Poltrack said, “We are already engaged with Nielsen and Twitter in a program of research and experimentation in this exciting new area. We are pleased to see Nielsen and Twitter join together to provide a comprehensive measurement system that will allow us to employ these social networking tools to their full advantage.”

    Fox Networks Group chairman and CEO Peter Rice said, “Twitter is a powerful messenger and a lot of fun for fans of our shows, providing them with the opportunity to engage, connect and voice their opinions directly to each other and us. Combining the instant feedback of Twitter with Nielsen ratings will benefit us, program producers, and our advertising partners.”

  • NDTV argues for hearing of its petition in New York

    MUMBAI: New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) has defended its decision to file a case against television ratings providers Nielsen and Kantar in New York as it involves the misuse, manipulation, and corruption of the Nielsen Process, which originates and is controlled in the US.

    In its reply to pleas for dismissal of its petition in the New York Supreme Court on grounds of jurisdiction, the Indian news broadcaster has argued that its case against the TAM owners should not be dismissed under the doctrine of forum non conveniens because NDTV has chosen to sue these Defendants in Nielsen‘s home forum in New York.

    According NDTV, the defendants mis-characterise this case as a dispute between foreign citizens, arguing that the “real parties in interest” are all Indian residents. “Defendants are wrong. NDTV specifically chose to litigate in New York because it is the Nielsen Defendants‘ home and where the Nielsen Process is controlled. Choice of a defendant‘s home forum is an important factor to be considered,” NDTV said.

    The company said that the defendants‘ argument is based on the false premise that “the gravamen (grievance) of this lawsuit is about the subscription that NDTV purchased from TAM.” NDTV‘s contractual relationship with TAM consists of simple sales order forms through which NDTV purchases TAM data reports.

    NDTV stresses that the claims are not about late payments or the failure to deliver purchased reports. “The claims are about Defendants‘ negligence, promises, acts and omissions relating to the dissemination of the corrupted, manipulated data in the marketplace, regardless of whether NDTV purchases it or not.Advertisers rely on that data, not NDTV. NDTV simply buys it to monitor the information that advertisers receive, whether corrupt or not.”

    Also, the defendants have asserted the stunning proposition that this Action has “no nexus” to New York. NDTV said that the amended complaint, however, is premised on the misuse, manipulation, and corruption of the Nielsen Process, which Defendants concede is controlled in New York. Consequentially, numerous acts at the center of this lawsuit occurred in New York. Defendants‘ 2012 investigation was run by Nielsen in New York.

    Nielsen conducted conference calls in New York. It briefed management in New York. And Nielsen seized key evidence; brought it to the United States; and hired third parties to analyse it. That seizure simultaneously demonstrates Nielsen‘s control and the New York nexus.

    Also, the Nielsen Defendants licensed and provided the Nielsen Process to TAM from New York. Because TAM pays the Nielsen Defendants in New York for use of the Nielsen Process, the Nielsen Defendants receive funds in New York that directly result from their own negligence, fraud, and failure to honor binding promises.

    Emails and other communications regarding the misuse of the Nielsen Process were exchanged between NDTV and representatives of the Nielsen Defendants in New York. For the record, on January 31, 2012, Nielsen‘s Farshad Family, who represents himself as based in New York, wrote to NDTV‘s Vikram Chandra to schedule an â€?interim progress review; On February 29, 2012, Nielsen‘s Farshad Family emailed NDTV‘s I.P. Bajpai and Vikram Chandra to set up a meeting where Nielsen would explain the result of its internal investigation. Similarly, emails and other communications regarding the Investigation were exchanged between the Kantar Group‘s executives “ including Kantar Group CEO Eric Salama and the Nielsen Defendants in New York.

    NDTV said that the defendants do not deny that these acts occurred in New York. Instead, they argue that certain meetings between their representatives and NDTV occurred in India.

    Defendants argue that the pertinent documents and witness are almost entirely in India, such that litigating in New York would result in significant burden. However, NDTV emphasises that while some witnesses and evidence are located in India and the United Kingdom, the overwhelming majority of documents reside in the United States (likely New York) because this case concerns the control of the Nielsen Process and Defendants‘ U.S.-based investigation.

    NDTV is not seeking to prove the underlying acts of TAM, but rather that Defendants intervened in this matter; conducted an investigation; made promises to NDTV; and then failed to live up to those promises, while continuing to profit nonetheless.

    Nielsen argues that there are at least 27 witnesses who “appear to live in India.” According to NDTV, Nielsen ignores that at least thirteen of these witnesses are current or former employees of NDTV, which has chosen to bring this action in New York. “An additional nine witnesses are employees of Defendants or their affiliates, two of whom, Farshad Family and Eric Salama are incorrectly identified as living in India. Three witnesses are employed by TAM, and given Defendants‘ authority to seize TAM property and take it to the United States, these witnesses are presumably accessible to Defendants. As a result, there are (at most) two witnesses inaccessible to Defendants (neither of which is identified by name) in Nielsen‘s list of purported witnesses residing in India.”

    NDTV said that although the Kantar Defendants are not headquartered in New York, they are not headquartered in India either. “It is more convenient to bring witnesses from the United Kingdom to New York than to India. Any hardship to either plaintiffs or defendants in bringing potential witnesses into New York would be minimal since they are both large multinational corporations with ample resources. In fact, Martin Sorell, the CEO of WPP, uses New York as a “hub” and maintains a personal assistant in New York,” NDTV added.

    The Indian broadcasting company said that New York is highly sophisticated and fully capable of handling this matter. Moreover, New York has an interest in preventing its corporate citizens from conspiring with foreign companies like the WPP and the Kantar Group to perpetrate a massive fraud, the proceeds of which were received in New York.

    Defendants maintain that India has a strong interest and the ability to adjudicate NDTV‘s claims. India, however, as per NDTV is not an adequate forum for this case. The lack of an adequate forum outside of New York “is a most important factor to be considered” in a forum non conveniens analysis.

    Indian Courts do not permit pre-trial discovery from non-parties. Accordingly, if this case were in India, neither NDTV nor Defendants could obtain discovery from third-party witnesses like Nielsen‘s U.S.-based forensics experts. Also, the Indian judicial system is fraught with significant delays and NDTV seeks injunctive relief against the Nielsen Defendants.

    “This action should not be dismissed for forum non conveniens. NDTV chose to sue these Defendants in New York because it is where the Nielsen Defendants reside. The claims have a strong connection to New York, and relevant documents and witnesses are here. It is not clear that NDTV would be able to obtain effective relief against Defendants in India. Therefore, there is no adequate alternative forum. The case must remain in New York,” NDTV concluded.