India's TAM In The Clear Until July

The High Court in Delhi has given further breathing space to TAM and to the Indian ad industry, previously threatened with a ratings blackout for much of the year, by adjourning until July the hearing of the appeal brought by Kantar Media against new government guidelines.

The decision, taken last Thursday, means Kantar cannot be penalized for not complying with the controversial guidelines before the case continues in the summer. Published in January and originally due to come into effect in February, the guidelines stipulate that no investor can hold more than 10% equity holdings in both a TV ratings agency and a broadcaster or advertising company - TAM is a 50:50 joint venture between Nielsen and Kantar.

Industry figures quoted on www.business-standard.com breathed a sigh of relief at the decision. Rohit Gupta, Chief Sales Officer at Multi Screen Media (MSM), which owns broadcast rights for cricketing megadeal the Indian Premier League, said with no rating system 'advertisers and broadcasters would have been affected badly' and added: 'we believe something is better than nothing'. Jehil Thakker, Head of Media & Entertainment at KPMG, commented: 'Given that BARC is still a long way down the road, TAM is crucial'.

TAM has said it will comply with all the other stipulations in the guidelines, including a forthcoming extension of its panel to 20,000 homes.

Web site: www.tamindia.com .