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Tag: Return Path Data

  • Barc to resume news genre ratings with immediate effect: MIB

    Barc to resume news genre ratings with immediate effect: MIB

    Mumbai: The ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) has asked Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) India to resume TV audience measurement ratings for the news genre with immediate effect and also release three months of data for the genre in a monthly format.

    As per the revised system, the reporting of news and niche genres shall be on a four-week rolling average concept. “This is to ensure fair, equitable representation of true trends,” said MIB in a statement on Wednesday. 

    The ministry has also set up a ‘working group’ under the chairmanship of the Prasar Bharati CEO for the consideration of leveraging the Return Path Data (RPD) capabilities for the use of TRP services, as also recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and the TRP committee report. The committee shall submit its report in four months’ time.

    In a statement, the I&B ministry said, “In the spirit of the TRP committee report and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI’s) recommendation dated 28.04.2020, M/s Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) has undertaken revision in its processes, protocols, oversight mechanism and initiated changes in governance structure etc.  The reconstitution of the board and the technical committee to allow for the induction of independent members have also been initiated by BARC.  A permanent oversight committee has also been formed. The access protocols for data have been revamped and tightened.”

    According to MIB, Barc has indicated that in view of changes undertaken by it, they are reaching out to related constituencies to explain the new proposals and are in readiness to actually commence the release as per the new protocols.

  • BARC India to TRAI and MIB: Tweak legislation to make data tamper-proof

    BARC India to TRAI and MIB: Tweak legislation to make data tamper-proof

    NEW DELHI: India’s audience measurement company BARC India has urged broadcast regulator TRAI and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) to bring in legislations making TV viewership data tamper-proof and stipulate stringent penalties for offenders.

    “Provisions need to be added in relevant regulations to not only dis-incentivize `viewership malpractices’ but also allow for punitive action against those indulging in such activities,” Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC India) has said.

    In addition, it has also suggested the government and regulator to explore whether digital set-top-boxes and smart TV sets could be mandated by law to be made return path data (RPD)-enabled, moves that could enhance data robustness.

    BARC India is of the opinion that guidelines for uplinking and downlinking of TV channels, issued by MIB, could be “suitably amended to recognize and codify” efforts by TV channels to infiltrate or tamper with data collection processes.

    “A limited number of unscrupulous elements exist in the sector (a carryover from the past) who seek to infiltrate security of BARC India’s sample (panel homes), and unfairly influence their viewership habits. Their goal (and business) is to skew final viewership data in favour of some channels, using unfair means that BARC India defines as `viewership malpractice’,” the measurement body, a joint venture amongst IBF, AAAI and AISA, has said, highlighting it was grappling with legacy issues.

    Over the last 12 months several instances have come to light where TV channels were found to be allegedly attempting to tamper and influence audience data and indulging in other malpractices to boost viewership or TV ratings points, as it’s popularly described in India. In some cases, BARC India undertook counter-measures resulting in alleged offenders taking legal recourse. In some other instances, the regulator had to issue warnings in an effort to do damage control.

    “In terms of specifics, MIB’s channel licensing norms can stipulate that any broadcaster found to be indulging in unfair means to influence its viewership through acts of viewership malpractice can face… actions,” BARC India has suggested in its submission to TRAI’s consultation paper on `Ease of Doing Business in Broadcasting Sector’, adding a “fair system that evaluates complaints and adjudicates on them may also be included” in the regulations.

    Amongst the moves that the government and sector regulator could take, as suggested by BARC India, include measures like errant company facing viewership data blackout for a limited period, telecast ban for a limited period and revoking of license depending on the seriousness of the offense. “A regulatory framework that helps prevent distortions and fraudulent activities in the eco-system would be highly desirable, and valuable to all sections of the industry,” it has said in its submission.

    Why is BARC India pushing for legislative protection?  Pointing out that “incorrect, false and misleading audience ratings can lead to incorrect content decisions”, the measurement organization said, “There are no sections in IPC with reference to which BARC India can file police complaint and this emboldens those involved in such (fraudulent) activities.”

    In addition to seeking legal protection for data generation process, BARC India has also highlighted to TRAI the technological steps that can be taken — and is being explored by it.

    Use of return path data to complement the present TV currency is one such option. RPD involves capturing TV viewing data of homes with addressable set-top-boxes (DTH and digital cable) by enabling “return path” flow of data. “Once enabled, this would allow capture of TV viewership data from several lakh homes, as opposed to the 50,000 sample mandated at present. Additionally, this larger sample would allow more accurate capture of viewership of niche audiences and genres/channels with small viewing base (such as regional language channels and genres like infotainment, etc.),” BARC India has said.

    However, there’s a slight hitch. In the absence of technical standards presently, a large number of STBs in India is not enabled for RPD owing to inadequacies in hardware and software systems.

    BARC India, which is presently in discussions with some DTH and digital cable service providers for return path data collation, has submitted that mandating manufacture and sale of RPD-enabled STBs in India would go a long way in further improving TV viewership measurement system in the country.

    In this context, the organization has also urged TRAI to examine whether RPD-enabled smart TV sets could be mandated in India considering their rising sales as such a move could further add to the robustness in data collection.

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  • BARC India in talks with DTH ops, MSOs for RPD to boost robustness

    NEW DELHI: India’s incumbent audience measurement organization Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) is in talks with DTH operators and MSOs for return path data (RPD) via their respective digital set-top boxes at customer premises to augment the robustness of viewership vital stats it dishes out.

    What does this mean?  It entails capturing passive data collection of household viewership from digital cable and DTH homes via existing set-top-boxes (STBs). This would therefore enable measurement based on a larger sample.

    Broadcast industry sources while confirming that talks are on between BARC India and various DTH operators for additional data that can be generated from non-BARC meters, added that the findings can help almost all stakeholders in the media to further fine-tune their strategies regarding consumer targeting. According to the buzz, talks are on with the likes of Airtel DTH, Sun DTH, Hathway, Tata Sky and DEN among others.

    The proposal on RPD is in addition to moves that BARC India has been making over the last six months to give more credibility and robustness to its data as also insulate itself from allegations of hacking and other malpractices. The organization, in this regard, is also proposing to revamp its Ethics Committee into a Disciplinary Committee that will have semi-judicial powers under a retired court judge.

    TV viewership in India is monitored and measured on the basis of 20,000 BARC India panel homes — that is, homes where it has its BAR-o-Meters installed. BARC is committed to raise that number every year by 10K to reach a total panel of 50,000 homes. However, Indian media industry sources also highlighted the issue whether Indian the eco-system can support an audience panel size larger than what has been planned for as any additional data generated via BARC India and non-BARC boxes would entail a financial cost, which would have to be borne, at the end of the day, by the industry players.

    RPD would substantially increase the sampled base for BARC India, helping further improve accuracy of its data. A larger sample will also minimize effect of any skews in sampling and make tampering difficult. Additional data would also help in reporting viewership of niche channels, apart from helping the measurement organization in reporting VoD, OTT, time shifted viewing and HD channels. Stats regarding smaller geographic regions and split beams of TV channels too would become possible.
    Such tie-ups will also help BARC India’s DTH/cable partners gain insights into TV viewing within their subscriber base in terms of linear TV, VoD and interactive services. Such data also likely to help them understand utilization of content packs and guide the pricing and packaging of services of platform operators.

    Meanwhile, RPD has been employed by data collectors in more developed and matured TV markets like the US, the UK, Australia and also in some parts of Asia for quite some time now. “The ubiquity of digital set-top boxes means that many cable and satellite operators can collect subscriber behaviours as a by-product of their subscriber management processes. Specifically, return path data can provide an economical way for the cable and satellite businesses to enhance the currency TV audience measurement in a manner dedicated to the needs of the multi-channel television industry,” Hong Kong-headquartered Asian media industry organization CASBAA had stated in one of its recent reports on multi-channel advertising in APAC.

    The FCC’s proposal to open cable set-top boxes to competition had thrust them into the spotlight. In 2016 when the Obama-government nominated FCC chief had proposed to throw open the STBs to competition and third-party manufacturers, Multichannel News had reported that “the role that STBs play not as content portals, but as providers of return-path data (RPD)” too is important.

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