NEW DELHI: TAM Media, the sole television ratings agency in India, is now under attack from the pubcaster. The Prasar Bharati board Monday formally gave approval to Doordarshan to finalise the parameters of legal action against TAM for generally overlooking the ratings of the state-owned network which has the largest reach in the country.
Prasar Bharati chief executive officer Jawahar Sircar told indiantelevision.com that the board took cognizance of the grievances of Doordarshan in this regard.
The board was apprised of the discussions held so far with the legal experts. The board would approach the Information and Broadcasting Ministry after getting the legal opinion.
Doordarshan has the largest reach terrestrially through local cable operators and around 20 per cent of the market through various DTH platforms.
The action by Prasar Bharati comes close on the heels of the case filed by NDTV in a New York court against The Nielsen Co, a global research and information firm, and Kantar Media Research, the owners of TAM Media. NDTV has sought $810 million as compensation for the loss in revenues it has suffered over the years and $580 million in penalty for negligence by Nielsen and Kantar officials.
Doordarshan with a reach of 92 per cent in the country through 1415 transmitters has a terrestrial reach to around 25 million viewers, apart from those getting the feed through the DTH and other platforms. In fact, Sircar claimed that DD Direct Plus is reaching out to another ten million viewers, thus taking the direct reach to 35 million.
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