Indiantelevision.com Team

(3 March 2008 2:30 pm)

NEW DELHI : Broadcasters and advertisers are getting together to start a TV audience measurement system parallel to Tam Media Research, the lone ratings agency subscribed to by the industry.

Broadcast Audio Research Council (BARC) is a non-profit company set up by all stakeholders in the television industry and has plans to install more than half a million peoplemeter boxes for measuring audiences going to television channels.

Stakeholders in the company include Indian Broadcasting Foundation, Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), as well as the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA).

The final legalities of setting up the company are in process right now. IBF director of finance Naresh Chahal says that work has started in full earnest and it is being spearheaded by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) CEO Pradeep Guha.

Initial operational cost have been estimated at more than Rs 900 million, avers Chahal.

One of the most strident objections to Tam has been its small sample size, says Chahal. Tam claims a sample size of 7,000 peoplemeters.

“Not only that, we shall be in all areas where Tam has never deigned to look - whether it is Bihar, Orissa or the northeastern states. We will also have a mix of urban and rural households, making the survey entirely inclusive and representative,” Chahal adds.

Chahal also says that half a million Cas (conditional access system) homes are left out by Tam, as well as the expanding universe of direct-to-home (DTH) subscribers. The BARC boxes will function for all platforms, digital as well as analogue, he adds.

An entire secretariat, employing top-notch professionals from the field of surveys, will be set up. "Secrecy and accuracy are of paramount importance for us," says Chahal.