It's curtains for broadcaster, advertiser slugfest over TV ratings

Advertisers had issued notices saying they would pull out ads from 'seven' networks if they did not shift to weekly ratings

India’s top advertisers and broadcasters have finally ironed out their differences that cropped up after a resolution was reached last week to break the impasse over the frequency of television ratings. Seven broadcasters — STAR India, ZEE, NDTV, Times Television, BAG, Viacom 18 and Network 18, and Multi Screen Media — and advertisers such as Hindustan Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo were on a warpath after the decision by the seven networks to shift to monthly ratings two weeks ago.

The matter reached a head about 10 days ago when the advertisers issued notices saying they would pull out ads from the seven networks if they did not shift to weekly ratings. A deal was brokered soon after.

While the broad contours of the deal remain the same — weekly ratings to advertisers and weekly reach figures to external stakeholders, including journalists, analysts, consultants and investors — the basic grievance of broadcasters to keep out news and niche genres such as infotainment from the weekly reporting structure has been addressed by making available television viewership figures known as TVT in thousands. TVT implies the number of people who viewed a television show for at least a minute. These are nothing but absolute reach numbers. Ratings are arrived at by using reach data expressed in percentage and time spent by viewers on a particular show.

Service provider TAM will also give TVT numbers as a four-week rolling average. This will also be a weekly exercise. TAM, therefore, will end up giving three software this September, persons in the know said. Media Xpress Platinum, which can be shared with external stakeholders, will have absolute reach numbers, with four-week rolling average figures.

The second and third pieces of software -- Media Xpress Gold and Media Xpress Silver -- will be available only to advertisers, media buying agencies and broadcasters. Media Xpress Gold will have ratings of shows and channels expressed in percentage, while Media Xpress Silver will have ratings expressed in thousands. To ensure there is no leakage, subscribers to Media Xpress Gold and Media Xpress Silver will have to sign non-disclosure agreements.

Interestingly, the warring factions have also attempted to arrive at a consensus over the involvement of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) in the working of TAM. The former was set up three years ago following issues over TAM’s methodology of arriving at ratings.

TAM will now have to make future changes to viewership measurement based on inputs from BARC’s technical committee, headed by media agency veteran and Mediabrands India CEO Shashi Sinha.

“As three concerned constituents who believe in working together, we have decided to refer all future currency related changes to the BARC technical committee. I am glad we will now have an effective guide and monitor for ratings in the country”, said Hemant Bakshi, chairman of the media and managing committee at the Indian Society of Advertisers.

Following the settlement, all release orders that were held back on the seven networks will be sent out with immediate effect, said media buyers in the know.