Indian Audience Measurement Latest

India's News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has asked the government to suspend reporting of TAM data, in the light of the ongoing row between broadcaster NDTV and Nielsen and WPP's joint venture. Meanwhile Nielsen is reportedly the front-runner for the forthcoming RSCI readership measurement pitch.

The NBA's Secretary General Annie Joseph wrote to the country's Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) two weeks ago to request a third party audit of TV audience measurement systems, along with other steps to 'resolve the malaise' and protect the industry.

NBA's President, K V L Narayan Rao, is also the Executive Vice Chairman of NDTV (New Delhi Television), which last month filed a case in the New York Supreme Court, accusing Kantar and Nielsen of violating anti-bribery laws through the TAM (Television Audience Measurement) joint venture. WPP said this week that it was considering proceedings against NDTV for defamation, and claimed the network's case was 'hypothetical' - a statement promptly rebuffed by NDTV.

With the case likely to rumble on for some time, life goes on in Indian audience measurement and the RSCI (Readers Studies Council of India) is due to award a contract next week for its long-awaited readership measurement metric, combining previous standards the IRS (Indian Readership Survey) and the NRS (National Readership Survey). According to sources quoted by www.exchange4media.com , the final decision will be taken at the MRUC (Media Research Users Council) board meeting next Tuesday, August 28, for the 2013-15 supplier, and Nielsen is the 'frontrunner', with a Hansa / Ipsos consortium also a strong contender.

The RSCI aims to have a pilot of the new survey in the field by October, and full fieldwork running by January 2013, with the first results due mid-year.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.