MUMBAI: Tam India sure seems to be in an upbeat mode. While a couple of days back it announced that it was increasing its TV panel from 4800 to 10,300; the agency has now announced that it is further scaling up the TV AdEx operations.

The agency is gearing up to monitor advertising of close to 150+ channels by the end of 2005 and 300 channels by the end of 2006. This move was prompted by the rapid increase in the number of television channels in the country.

 
Tam measures 250 channels for viewership ratings, AdEx India monitors 117 channels for all advertising expenditure analysis. In accordance to its vision - "To track the last advertising rupee in the Indian Media Industry" – AdEx India has undertaken a series of initiatives for the industry. It provides advertising information across TV, newspapers, magazines and radio.

 
 
A service like TV AdEx has to capture and monitor 98-99 per cent of all TV revenues in the country. This is the norm that AdEx India has set for itself.

 
 
A roadmap for the required expansion is currently being worked out. Mirroring the market requirements, this will be the first ever massive jump for AdEx India.

The year 2004 has been a watershed year in the area of TV monitoring as new channels were launched, which in turn gave rise to newer and complex requirements from the industry.

Citing an example, Tam Media Research vice president Atul Phadnis says, "While the earlier AdEx model was to capture every ad and program on TV, planners today want us to monitor every sponsorship element, every innovation, every brand sighting and every product placement. On the other hand, broadcasters want us to capture promos, channel and program branding elements, content elements and placements. However, while new media are tracked to realize AdEx’s vision, existing media will have to have constant expansions."

Hence, AdEx India is gearing up for a massive scalability right now that incorporates new technology, infrastructure and training and development for its talent pool.