Manipulated TRPs very interesting article

NDTV vs. TAM: A currency in question

"It is a tough moment to be in," was largely the comment made by the media fraternity on July 31, 2012, when NDTV sued Nielsen Company and various others over TAM Media Research. There were various aspects to the lawsuit that have raised alarm but top of the list was NDTV's complaint that data from TAM Media Research was manipulated.

Many questioned why NDTV would complaint in a US court over TAM. The first answer was TAM's parentage of Nielsen and Kantar but the second popular opinion is that NDTV was looking for a speedy solution to the issue, and that they would have had gathered quite a lot to back their case in the New York State court.

The move has left the industry waiting with bated breath on what would be the next course of action on the subject. The crux of the comments was that if Nielsen lost the case or if there was an out of court settlement, there would be chaos in the Indian media industry.

TAM Media Research has been the currency for the Indian broadcasting fraternity for over a decade now -- a currency that has been carefully guarded by stakeholders against any intrusion from government or any other body that is of the opinion that TAM fostered unhealthy content culture in the broadcast fraternity.

The reason: TAM enables an accepted, common ground to measure the performance of television, a medium that at present consumes the majority portion of the advertising spends in India.

An industry divided
Given the nature of the case, not many industry officials were willing to give their views on record but a large portion of broadcasters expressed that TAM Media Research needed to do more for the industry and such conversations were taking place with TAM for a while. Broadcasters have made various requests of TAM in the last year, some of which were even seen regressive by their advertiser and media agency counterparts. One such was the request from News Broadcasters Association (NBA) that wanted TAM data to be released monthly instead of weekly.

Channels such as erstwhile Imagine from Turner Broadcast had even questioned TAM's data, pointing out city-wise anomalies that led to an "incorrect version of the larger picture". A senior broadcaster stated, "Such allegations are not new to TAM and just about everyone would have tabled it with them at some point. The last mile intermediaries can be a problem, and one that TAM may not have much control over either."

The other allegation was that data had become vendor-driven for TV ratings in India. More than what broadcasters wanted, it was what TAM was able to generate.

"The need of the hour for broadcasters in India and the world over is a robust, reliable research system and analytical tool. TAM needs to offer a system that will help decision-making by offering insights that are not only legitimate and pioneering but also add value to the business and in turn the end consumer," said a Reliance Broadcast Network spokesperson, another company that has been vocal about TAM's ability to measure data in certain kinds of audiences.

Some of these points form other aspects of the complaint that NDTV has filed against Nielsen over TAM. NDTV officials including the likes of Dr Prannoy Roy and Vikram Chandra had met many agencies in the last one year to point out the drawbacks and errors with TAM data.

Another industry senior however pointed out that the industry never built a blueprint for TAM to function on. "There may have been suggestions but TAM also needed investment and perhaps some structured way of saying that this is where the industry is headed and this is the role that TAM can play," added a media agency head.

While broadcasters may have seen this coming, agency officials see this a severe setback to the industry.

Challenged currency, but where is BARC
Shashi Sinha, CEO, Lodestar UM pointed out that if BARC was around, the situation may not have come to this. He said, "BARC has been discussed for over four years now but there is no progress. It has to get off the ground quickly – that is the only solution to address a problem of this nature."

BARC is led by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation in its present avatar and has participation from Indian Society of Advertisers and also the Advertising Agencies Association of India. BARC was accepted even by the Ministry of Broadcasting led Amit Mitra TRP Committee. However, BARC flouted a few deadlines set and even now, there isn't any substantial progress from the body.

Attacking TAM however does have consequences for the industry. Satyajit Sen, CEO, ZenithOptimedia said, "TAM is the currency of our profession and this is attacking the integrity of that currency. It is not the best place to be in."