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TV Ratings: 'Adding Meters Won't Change Much'

Nandini Raghavendra Apr 01, 2016

It's been a year since the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) ratings was set up. Being an industry body compromising broadcasters (60 per cent), advertisers (20 per cent) and media agencies (20 per cent) was thought to be its biggest advantage. Nandini Raghavendra spoke to CEO BARC, Partho Dasgupta on the sidelines of Ficci Frames 2016, where Minister for Communication & IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad criticised the new ratings system.

How much difference will a larger number of BARC meters make?
We are currently at 20,000 meters and are going up to 50,000 within a time frame set by the government. However, not much will change with more meters, because these are statistically driven models which we are using. What will happen, however, is that an increased sample size makes data more robust for granular analysis.

The minister said 'a few hundred meters'. How much does larger mean?
We already have the largest panel in the world.

As compared to the mature markets like the US how is India placed?
Our sample is 96,000 individuals as compared to the US where it is 40,000 individuals. Also, the average household size in the US is 2.2 individuals vs India which is 4.4 individuals.

Is BARC paying for TAM's mistakes?
For the informed, it is not.

Is the prohibitive price of BARC meters the main hurdle to increasing the sample size?
The cost of people setting up these meters is prohibitive. The operational issues are also a reality. Reaching out to the interiors of a country as large as India is an onerous task.

What are the challenges for a body set up by the industry? And what have proved to be the key advantages?
Largely, everyone is on the same page and most key decisions happen by consensus which is a big advantage. Yes, conflict of interests too happen and they need to be managed and can become difficult but so far, we have tided over those well enough.