MUMBAI: TAM, the television ratings provider, has assured the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) and the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) that it will work on a six-point action plan to plug loopholes in the system.
The assurance was given at a meeting ISA and AAAI had with TAM on Thursday, 16 August to obtain facts about the audience measurement system. The meeting was held in the backdrop of broadcaster NDTV's suit in the US against TAM and its parents Nielsen and Kantar, claiming the ratings were fudged.
During the meeting, TAM shared its perspective with ISA and AAAI and outlined the following six key action steps:
- Appointment of a security officer and a security agency
- Expansion in number of meters in the existing 6 top metros
- A review by the industry of research processes that determine what TAM reports in its weekly reports. And what meter homes are left out of reporting for being data outliers
- Getting the outlier homes independently audited
- Faster panel rotation
- An internal audit team to be put in place as soon as possible
In a joint statement, AAAI president Arvind Sharma and ISA chairman Bharat Patel said, "As key users of audience research data, advertisers and advertising agencies need to know facts directly from the research agency. And if there are challenges at any level in the research, the research agency needs to share its proposed action plan with us."
They further said, "We look forward to speedy implementation of the six action steps outlined by TAM. With formation of Broadcast Audience Research Council-BARC on the anvil, it will be appropriate for us to request BARC to review if these steps are adequate."
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