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Tag: Trai

  • BARC week 26: Star Vijay back in across genres list

    BARC week 26: Star Vijay back in across genres list

    BENGALURU: Star India’s flagship Tamil GEC Star Vijay once again made an appearance in Broadcast Audience Research Council of India's (BARC) weekly list of top 10 channels across genres in week 26 of 2019 (Saturday, 22 June 2019 to Friday, 28 June 2019, week or period under review). As was the case in the previous week, Star Vijay was also ranked seventh in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Tamil channels in the Tamil Nadu/Puducherry market.

    Four Star India channels, two channels each from Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) and one channel each from Enterr 10 TV and Sun TV Network made up BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres in week 26 of 2019. From the genres' perspective, there were six Hindi GECs, two Tamil channels and one channel each from the sports and Telugu genres that comprised BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres in week 26 of 2019. Channels from rank one to six in week 26 of 2019 were the same as those in week 25.

    Continuing on at rank 1 in week 26 of 2019 was Star India’s Hindi sports channel Star Sports 1 Hindi on the back of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in England and Wales. Two of the five matches during the week under review involved India, hence ratings pipped up for the channel. Star Sports 1 Hindi scored 1,263.932 million weekly impressions in week 26 of 2019 as compared to 1,186.783 million weekly impressions in week 25. Star Sports 1 Hindi was ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 sports channels and four of the top 5 sports programmes NCCS All : Prime Time (1800 – 2330 hrs) : 2+ Individuals featured on Star Sports 1 Hindi during the week under review.

    Also maintaining its previous week’s rank 2 was Sun TV Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV with 904.751 million weekly impressions in week 26 of 2019 as compared to 851.935 million weekly impressions in week 26. Sun TV also headed BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Tamil channels in the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry markets and four of the top 5 Tamil programmes in this market based on NCCS All : Prime Time (1800 – 2330 hrs) : 2+ Individuals were aired on Sun TV.

    At its previous week’s third rank was Enterr 10 TV’s Hindi GEC Dangal in week 26 of 2019 with 801.504 million weekly impressions as compared to 788.059 million weekly impressions in week 25. Dangal also headed BARC’s weekly lists of top 10 Hindi GECs in the combined urban and rural Hindi speaking market -HSM (U+R) and HSM (R). Dangal was ranked seventh in HSM (U). Indian mythology programme Mahima Shanidev Ki and a family drama Baba Aiso Var Dhundo on Dangal were in BARC’s list of top 5 Hindi GEC programmes based on NCCS All : Prime Time (1800 – 2330 hrs) : 2+ Individuals in HSM (R).

    Continuing on at fourth rank was Zeel’s flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV in week 26 of 2019 with 701.711 million weekly impressions as compared to 701.670 million weekly impressions in week 25. Zee TV was ranked second in HSM (U+R) and HSM (U) and third in HSM (R) in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs. The Balaji Telefilms-produced Kumkum Bhagya, its spinoff  Kundali Bhagya and another drama  Tujhse Hai Raabta aired on Zee TV were among the top 5 Hindi GEC programmes based on NCCS All : Prime Time (1800 – 2330 hrs) : 2+ Individuals in HSM (U+R), HSM (R) and HSM (U).

    At fifth rank in week 26 of 2019 was Star India’ flagship Hindi GEC Star Plus with 688.432 million weekly impressions as compared to seventh rank and 682.166 million weekly impressions in week 25. Star Plus was also ranked third and fourth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U+R) and HSM (R) respectively and was ranked first in HSM (U). Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai on Star Plus was amongst BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi GEC programmes on NCCS All : Prime Time (1800 – 2330 hrs) : 2+ Individuals in HSM (U+R) in HSM (U).

    At sixth place was Star India’s flagship Telugu GEC Star Maa with 651.535 million weekly impressions as compared to 663.013 million weekly impressions in week 25. Star Maa was also ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Telugu GECs in the Andhra Pradesh/Telangana markets and all the five programmes in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Telugu programmes based on NCCS All : Prime Time (1800 – 2330 hrs) : 2+ Individuals in these markets were aired on Star Maa.

    As mentioned above, Star Vijay re-entered BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres in week 26 of 2019 with 549.005 million weekly impressions at seventh rank. Star Vijay was also ranked second in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Tamil channels in the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry markets.

    Dropping a place to eighth rank in week 26 of 2019 was Zeel’s Hindi GEC Big Magic with 536.294 million weekly impressions as compared to seventh rank and 566.278 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Big Magic was ranked fourth and second in BARC’s weekly lists of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U+R) and HSM (R) respectively. Big Magic was ranked eighth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U).

    Climbing up a place to ninth rank was SPN’s flagship Hindi GEC Sony Entertainment Television (SET) with 529.078 million weekly impressisons in week 26 as compared with 479.487 million weekly impressions in week 25 of 2019. SET was ranked fifth and seventh in BARC’s weekly  lists of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U+R) and HSM (R) was ranked third in HSM (U). The talent reality show Super Dances Chapter 3 on SET was among BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi GEC programmes NCCS All : Prime Time (1800 – 2330 hrs) : 2+ Individuals in HSM (U+R) and HSM (U).

    Dropping down two places to tenth rank was SPN’s Hindi GEC Sony SAB with 525.403 million weekly impressions as compared to eighth rank and 536.918 million weekly impressions. Sony SAB was ranked sixth BARC’s weekly lists of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U+R) and HSM (R) and was ranked fourth in HSM (U).

  • Delhi HC sends notice to TRAI over money collection through tariff amendment orders

    Delhi HC sends notice to TRAI over money collection through tariff amendment orders

    MUMBAI: The Delhi High Court has issued a notice to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) asking it to explain how broadcasters collected crores of rupees from consumers on the basis of the 11th and 13th TRAI tariff amendment orders, as per a report by news agency ANI.

    The court was responding to a plea by an NGO which said that the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) had set aside the case and remanded it to TRAI. TRAI has to file its reply by 11 September, the next date of the hearing.

    According to the petitioners, the collection of money by broadcasters was illegal after a Supreme Court order of 2015 was applied. They also had to maintain a separate account for this money collected from customers.

    Post the implementation of the framework, the money was to be returned to customers but the TRAI transferred the matter to the I&B Ministry.

  • BARC to now report viewership from pay, FTA platforms separately

    BARC to now report viewership from pay, FTA platforms separately

    MUMBAI: In what can be considered as a key new development, Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC) will now report viewership from pay and free-to-air (FTA) platforms separately. According to sources, the BARC board in its meeting on Thursday ratified the technical committee's proposal for the same.

    BARC provides several cuts for its urban viewership, which tends to be heterogeneous in nature. Reporting free platforms separately can be regarded as the first step in breaking up rural viewership, which is more homogeneous.

    BARC already provides separate urban and rural viewership of some key genres like Hindi GEC and news on its website. Now with pay/FTA reporting, the general public will get a more clear picture of leadership positions of channels in these two markets which have become more distinct after TRAI's tariff order implementation.

    With DD Free Dish flourishing, FTA viewership is now a sizable chunk. BARC's move to segregate pay and FTA channels is a positive one, and is bound to be welcomed by the industry, in particular, broadcasters.  

    The new pay/FTA reporting format for viewership on the BARC website and in its BMW software could be in the offing as early as week 27.

    Additionally, Indiantelevision.com has also been told by a broadcaster source that the much-debated landing page issue wasn't taken up for discussion by the board.

  • Crucial BARC India board meeting today under cloud of landing page issue

    Crucial BARC India board meeting today under cloud of landing page issue

    MUMBAI: The BARC India board is set to meet today in what can be considered as one of its more significant gatherings. The latest board meeting will be held in the backdrop of a series of controversial developments that have been triggered by TDSAT's order setting aside TRAI's directive on landing pages.

    The TV audience measurement body's approach post the TDSAT order has raised concerns from certain quarters of the industry. Indiatelevision.com has previously written about different perspectives from within the industry from a clarity and transparency standpoint.

    This is the first time the BARC India board will meet since it gave a nod to form a two-member committee to independently review its data validation and outlier policy that has drawn sharp opinions and observations from across the industry.

    The meeting comes a day after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) hosted an open house discussion on review of television audience measurement and ratings in Mumbai on Wednesday where senior officials hoped the landing page issue would be addressed by the industry.

    Following TDSAT’s ruling, BARC had notified that it would include the ratings of channels placed on landing page in its weekly ratings data and while releasing the data of week 22, 2019 BARC correctly considered the channel available on landing pages.

    On 13 June BARC announced that it is reverting to its earlier method of filtering out outliers or abnormal reach from the landing page which BARC decided to do so, only after receiving some representations from industry players.

    With BARC again starting to exclude the outliers, several broadcasters have alleged that the data could be biased as the process of validating outliers for channels is manual.

    With several industry stakeholders keen to track the latest updates, this BARC board meeting is far from a routine affair.

  • TRAI’s SK Gupta on Independent TV troubles, BARC overhaul, landing page controversy & tariff order

    TRAI’s SK Gupta on Independent TV troubles, BARC overhaul, landing page controversy & tariff order

    MUMBAI: Top Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) functionaries were in Mumbai on Wednesday for the second leg of the open house discussion (OHD) to review the television audience measurement and ratings system in India. In the audience were industry stakeholders spanning across broadcasters, advertisers, distribution platform operators (DPOs) and BARC representatives among others.

    “Ratings have to be unbiased, correct representation of the feelings of the people and should not be impacted by various methodologies being used to influence them,” said TRAI secretary Sunil K Gupta as he set the agenda.

    TRAI had received multiple comments and counter-comments from industry to its consultation paper, which featured a list of questions. In order to further deepen the engagement, Gupta recommended three additional topics be taken up for discussion.

    “What are the concerns and problems when it comes to return path data with set top boxes? Let us analyse and understand how we can increase the sample size of meters so that influencing data becomes difficult. Secondly, many broadcasters said in the Delhi OHD that data collected through such meters is filtered or manipulated to delete the outliers. They feel that the level of transparency in doing so is not there and in some cases they feel it is one of the tools to manipulate the TRP of a channel. Thirdly, is there any other alternative that can be adopted to make ratings more effective or more representative of viewership?” the secretary asked.

    However, despite the officials’ best efforts to initiate a conversation to highlight problems and suggest solutions, those present were rather conservative in their approach, side-stepping critical issues that continue to plague the broadcasting sector from a TV audience measurement standpoint. While regional broadcasters did argue in favour of a more representative sample to take into account multiple socio-cultural regions, major broadcasters failed to approach the discussion with their usual vigour.

    From BARC’s perspective, COO Romil Ramgarhia and chairman of its technical committee Shashi Sinha were rather frank and forthright, articulating their respective positions on all issues at hand quite candidly.

    In order to gain a better understanding of the regulator's viewpoint, Indiantelevision.com’s Dattaraj Thaly engaged the TRAI secretary in a quick chat on the sidelines of the OHD. 

    Edited excerpts follow.

    What compelled you to float a consultation paper on review of television audience measurement and ratings in India?

    We recommended the formation of an entity to rate the audience measurement for the TV sector and as per that recommendation, MIB came up with guidelines and then BARC was registered. Having said that, (BARC) working for the last three years, we just wanted to see how good the work is being done and there are different concerns of different stakeholders to improve the transparency of BARC rating. So, what are the concerns of stakeholders and how can we improve its functions was our objective.

    What are the specific functions you want improved? Is it credibility of the ratings, transparency of the system? What are the benchmarks for improvement?

    In fact it includes all the things. It is credibility, accuracy of the system and also to make it broad-based so that any attempt to tamper any information etc., should have minimum impact on rating given by the BARC.

    We know what the broadcasters’ concerns with BARC are. Can you tell us what the regulator’s view on the TV audience measurement body is?

    TRAI does not have any view of its own. We raise various issues to the stakeholders. We take oral as well as written comments of the stakeholders. We also analyse the international experiences, the issues raised by different people on what needs to be addressed and ultimately firmly take a view what should be done. So, one thing is very clear TRAI does not have its own view.

    You’ve now held two open house discussions (Delhi and Mumbai) to review our current TV audience measurement system. Have any key themes emerged from these consultations?

    One is that everybody wants BARC to give the ratings that are credible, transparent, not influenced by any of the stakeholders. They also want a broad-based rating pattern, so that chances of getting it influenced by few meters is reduced. Thirdly, they want to improve the transparency of the system.

    BARC’s data validation and outlier policy post the TDSAT order on landing pages has created quite a stir in the industry. What’s your view on this issue?

    You would have heard BARC clearly stating today that they do not have a method to identify landing page and therefore effectively address the issue.

    So, what is the way forward?

    You have yourself very clearly pointed out that there is a decision by TDSAT and we will look into it further and see what can be done. Also today you have heard that this is a call to be taken by the industry also.

    Are you satisfied with what you’ve accomplished in terms of the new tariff order roll-out?

    If you look at the preamble of the regulations and the tariff order issues, the objective raised over there were met to a great extent. So, we are satisfied.

    Two fundamental issues – consumer choice and transparency – were emphasised on by TRAI during the implementation of the new tariff order. Has the new regime addressed these two tenets?

    We have introduced giving the price of each channel in EPG, which has been appreciated by all of the stakeholders. As far as giving choice is concerned, we have checked different platforms and most of the platforms are complying and giving choice. What we have found is that there is a need to educate the consumers. Because consumers from the beginning have been given bouquets. Now awareness has been generated that options have been enabled to choose channels on a-la-carte basis. On this front, I think some more work is required.

    Has the broadcasting and cable services landscape settled down post the new tariff order implementation?

    The choice of customer is a dynamic situation and it will change from time to time and that is what we precisely feel like. The market will work once the consumer has got the options to exercise and it will depend on many things such as the type of programmes you are showing in your TV channel, the language, the awareness, etc. So, this is working very well on the ground and naturally it will take some time to settle. Saying that it has already settled may not be accurate, but yes it is going in the right direction.

    What’s your take on the Independent TV situation?

    Independent TV has been very recently given their license for DTH. The matter has been taken up with MIB and with the other enforcement arms of MIB, which is spread in the state and districts. We are looking into that.

    Is TRAI committed to light-touch regulation across the broadcasting and distribution sector?

    New tariff order is the right example of light-touch regulation (https://www.indiantelevision.com/regulators/trai/broadcasters-split-over-trai-s-directive-to-barc-on-tv-viewership-data-190226). We have given complete freedom to broadcasters to price their channels. We have given freedom to DPOs to carry out their business and get a certain committed revenue so that quality of the network can be upgraded and quality of the services can be given to the consumers. We are only prescribing the broad architecture and not micro-managing.

  • BARC week 25: Live cricket matches catapult Star Sports 1 Hindi to top spot across genres

    BARC week 25: Live cricket matches catapult Star Sports 1 Hindi to top spot across genres

    BENGALURU: The live telecast of the India Pakistan ICC cricket world cup match in week 25 of 2019 (Saturday, 15 June 2019 to Friday, 21 June 2019, week or period under review) was among the most watched sports programme on three channels – Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 2 and DD Sports. One ICC World Cup other match – the live telecast of the Australia-Bangladesh on Star Sports 1 Hindi was the fifth most watched programme in Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly list of 5 most watched programmes during primetime during the week under review. Besides, the live telecast of Philips Hue Cricket on Star Sports 1 Hindi was the fourth watched sports programme during the week under review. These matches catapulted Star Sports 1 Hindi to first rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genre in week 25 of 2019.

    Sun TV Networks flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV pipped Dangal TV to second rank during the period under review, pushing the Hindi GEC to third rank. Seven Hindi GEC’s and one channel each from the Sports, Tamil and Telugu genres comprised BARC’s list of top 10 channels across genre in week 25 of 2019. From the network’s perspective, there were 3 channels from Star India, two channels each from Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) and one channel each from Enterr 10 TV, Sun Tv Network and Viacom18 in BARC’s weekly list for week 25 of 2019.

    Climbing up a place to first rank in week 25 of 2019 was Star Sports 1 Hindi with 1,186.783 as compared to second rank and 763.962 million weekly impressions in week 24. Star Sports 1 Hindi was also ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi Sports channels and as mentioned above. Further, the three of five most watched sports programmes as mentioned above were broadcast on Star Sports 1 Hindi during the week under review.

    Also climbing up a place to second rank during week 25 of 2019 was Sun TV with 851.935 million weekly impressions as compared to third rank and 762.213 million weekly impressions in week 24. Sun TV also headed BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Tamil channels in the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry markets and four of the top 5 Tamil programmes in this market based on average rating across all original airings in the week were aired on Sun TV.

    Dropping two places to third rank in week 25 of 2019 was Enterr 10 TV’s Hindi GEC Dangal with 788.059 million weekly impressions as compared to first rank and 806.687 million weekly impressions in week 24. Dangal also headed BARC’s weekly lists of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in the combined urban and rural Hindi speaking market -HSM (U+R) and HSM (R).  Dangal was ranked seventh in HSM (U). An Indian mythology programmes– Mahima Shanidev Ki and a family drama Baba Aiso Var Dhundo on Dangal were in BARC’s list of  Top 5 Hindi GEC programmes based on average rating across all original airings in the week in HSM (R).

    Climbing up a rank to fourth place was Zeel’s flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV with 701.670 million weekly impressions in week 25 as compared to fifth rank and 680.603 million weekly impressions in week 24. Zee TV was ranked second in HSM (U+R), HSM (U) and third in HSM (R) in BARC’s weekly list if top 10 Hindi GECs’. The Balaji Telefilms produced Kumkum Bhagya, its spinoff  Kundali Bhagya and Tujhse Hai Raabta aired on Zee TV were among the top 5 Hindi GEC programmes based on average rating across all original airings in the week in HSM (U+R), HSM (R) and HSM (U).

    Also climbing up to fifth place in week 25 of 2019 was Star India’ flagship Hindi GEC Star Plus with 682.166 million weekly impressions as compared to seventh rank and 624.298 million weekly impressions in week 24. Star Plus was also ranked third and fourth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in  HSM (U+R) and HSM (R) respectively and was ranked first in HSM (U). Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai on Star Plus was amongst BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi GEC programmes on average rating across all original airings in the week in HSM (U+R) in HSM (U).

    Retaining its previous week’s sixth rank in week 25 of 2019 was Star India’s flagship Telugu GEC Star Maa with 663.013 million weekly impressions as compared to 626.797 million weekly impressions in week 25. Star Maa was also ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Telugu GECs’ in the Andhra Pradesh/Telangana markets and all the five programmes in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Telugu programmes based on average rating across all original airings in the week in these markets were aired on Star Maa.

    Dropping down three places to seventh rank in week 25 of 2019 was Zeel’s Hindi GEC Big Magic with 566.278 million weekly impressions as compared to fourth rank and 690.539 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Big Magic was ranked fourth and second in BARC’s weekly lists of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (U+R) and HSM (R) respectively. Big Magic was ranked eighth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (U).

    SPN’s Hindi GEC Sony SAB also retained its previous week’s eighth rank in week 25 of 2019 with 536.918 million weekly impressions as compared to 552.626 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Sony SAB was ranked fifth, sixth and third in BARC’s weekly lists of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (U+R) and HSM (R) and (U) respectively. One of the longest running Indian sitcom – Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma on Sony SAB was among BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi GEC programmes on average rating across all original airings in the week in HSM (U+R) and HSM (U).

    Climbing up a rank to ninth place was Viacom18’s flagship Hindi GEC Colors in week 25 of 2019  with 513.035 million weekly impressions as compared to tenth rank and 521.025 million weekly impressions in week 24. Colors was ranked sixth in BARC’s weekly lists of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (U+R) and was ranked fifth in both HSM (R) in HSM (U).

    Re-entering BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genre was SPN’s flagship Hindi GEC Sony Entertainment Television (SET) with 479.487 million weekly impressions in week 25 of 2019. SET was ranked seventh in BARC’s weekly  lists of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (U+R) and was ranked fourth in HSM (U)

  • 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.

  • Broadband internet subscriber additions small in April 2019

    Broadband internet subscriber additions small in April 2019

    BENGALURU: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data for the month ended 30 April 2019 (Apr-19, month under review) reveals that India’s broadband subscriber base grew by 86.4 lakh (8.64 million, 0.864 crore). This is only the fourth time over the past 15 months that less than 1 crore subscribers were added, the earlier occasions being for the month ended 31 August 2018 (34.1 lakh, 3.14 million 0.314 crore), 31 December 2018 (66.5 lakh, 6.65 million, 0.665 crore) and 30 April 2018 (71.9 lakh, 7.91 million, 0.791 crore).  It must be noted that TRAI indicates subscriber data in terms of millions  up to two decimal points, hence the granularity of subscriber data in this report is limited to 10,000.

    Growth in the country’s broadband internet subscriber base was led by mobile (phones and dongles), followed by growth in subscribers of Fixed wireless- WiFi, Wi Max, Point to Point, Radio, Vsat internet services. Wired broadband internet subscriber base saw a decline in Apr-19.

    As mentioned above, broadband internet subscribers grew by 86.4 lakh (8.64 million, 0.864 crore), or by 1.53 percent to 5,719.5 lakh (571.95 million, 57.195 crore) in Apr-19 as compared to 5,633.1 lakh (563.31 million, 56.331 crore) at the end of Mar-19. Mobile broadband internet subscribers increased by 78.8 lakh (7.88 million or 0.788 crore) in Apr-19 or 1.45 percent to 5,522.5 Lakh (552.25 million, 55.225 crore) from 5,443.7 lakh (544.37 million, 54.437 crore) in Mar-19. Wired broadband internet subscriber based declined by 0.04 percent or declined by about 10,000 to 184.1 lakh (18.41 million, 1.841 crore) in Apr-19 from 184.2 lakh (18.41 million or 1.841 crore) in Mar-19.  Subscribers of Fixed wireless- WiFi, Wi Max, Point to Point, Radio, Vsat internet services more than doubled (increased by 147.22 percent, 7.6 lakh or 0.76 million or 0.076 crore) during the period under review to 12.8 lakh (1.28 million, 0.128 crore) from 5.2 lakh (0.52 million or 0.052 crore) in the previous month Mar-19.

    The top five broadband internet service providers constituted 98.68 percent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of Apr-19. These service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd or Jio  which had 3,148.1 lakh (314.81 million, 31.481 crore);  Bharti Airtel  or Airtel with 1,157.1 lakh (115.71 million, 11.571 crore); Vodafone Idea 1,096.6 lakh (109.66 million, 10.966.crore), BSNL 222.9 lakh  (22.29 million, 2.229 crore) and Tata Tele. Group 19.4 lakh (1.94 million, 0.194 crore).

    Wireless broadband internet subscribers

    As on 30 April, 2019, the top five Wireless Broadband Service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd  with 3,148.1 lakh (314.81 million, 31.481 crore), Bharti Airtel 1,133.3 lakh (113.33 million, 11.333 crore), Vodafone Idea 1,096.4 lakh (109.64 million, 10.964 crore), BSNL 123.9 lakh (12.39 million, 1.239 crore) and Tata Teleservices 15.4 lakh (1.54 million, 0.154 crore).

    As has been the case right from the time it was launched, growth in wireless broadband internet subscribers was led by Jio which added 80.9 lakh (8.90 million, 0.809 crore) subscribers in Apr-19.  Airtel added 10.7 lakh (1.07 million, 0.107 crore) during the period, while Vodafone-Idea lost 5.6 lakh (0.56 million, 0.56 crore). Also, BSNL lost 5.4 lakh (0.54 million, 0.054 crore) subscribers during the period under review.

    Wired broadband internet subscribers

    As on 30 April, 2019, the top five Wired Broadband Service providers were BSNL with 91.5 lakh (9.15 million, 0.915 crore), Bharti Airtel 23.8 lakh (2.38 million 0.238 crore), Atria Convergence Technologies  or ACT with 14.3 lakh (1.43 million, 0.143 crore), Hathway Cable & Datacom or Hathway with 8.2 lakh (0.82 million, 0.082 crore) and MTNL 7.5 lakh (0.75 million, 0.075 crore).

    Both the public sector service providers BSNL and MTNL lost subscribers in Apr-19, while the three private players – Airtel, ACT and Hathway gained subscribers in Apr-19. BSNL lost 20,000 subscribers, while MTNL lost 40,000 subscribers in Apr-19. Hathway and Airtel added 50,000 subscribers each, while ACT added 20,000 subscribers during the month under review. Overall, the top 5 subscribers added a net of 60,000 subscribers in Apr-19, while the number of wired broadband subscribers in India shrank by 10,000, hence, the other players which include MSOs’ and LCOs’ saw their wired broadband subscriber base decline by 70,000.

  • TRAI extends deadline for feedback on review of interconnection framework

    TRAI extends deadline for feedback on review of interconnection framework

    MUMBAI: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Tuesday extended the last date for receipt of written feedback on its consultation paper titled "Review of the Regulatory framework for Interconnection".

    According to a notification from the regulator, the last date for receipt of written comments has been modified to 4 July and counter-comments, if any to 18 July.

    The regulator’s decision came after a request from some of the stakeholders. However, it has been decided that no request for any further extension of time will be entertained.

    TRAI had floated the consultation paper in May to asses means of removing entry barriers for new companies and reduce the operational cost of existing operators by handing them greater flexibility.