TAM Media Launches Mobile App for Indian TV Data

In India, Nielsen/Kantar joint venture TAM Media Research has launched a mobile app called 'TAM India', which will provide subscribers with access to weekly top line television audience measurement (TAM) data on their iPhone, Android and Blackberry devices.

TAM measures TV viewing in the country using data on the viewing habits of 33,500 respondents across 164 Indian cities and towns. Commenting on the latest launch, CEO L V Krishnan (pictured) said the app will provide anytime, anywhere access to data and quicker decision making process for clients across advertiser, media agency and TV broadcast organisations.

Two years ago, TAM was under scrutiny, following allegations by Indian broadcaster New Delhi Television (NDTV) that staff of the agency took bribes in exchange for overstating ratings. The suit was thrown out by New York's Supreme Court, although several Indian broadcasters have since boycotted the TAM system. Then last year, the Indian government introduced guidelines for TV ratings agencies in the country, which if implemented will stipulate that no investor can hold more than a ten percent stake in both a ratings agency and a broadcast or advertising company - a move which would exclude TAM, currently the only provider of ratings in the country. Kantar appealed against the guidelines, and the case has been postponed until August.

The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has been setting up its own industry measurement body, the Broadcasting Audience Research Council (BARC) since 2010, and is due in the autumn to launch a service neatly matching the provisions of the above government guidelines. Meanwhile the app is evidence that TAM is not going to allow the current uncertainty and the looming prospect of possibly being locked out of the market, to stall its own innovation efforts.

Web site: www.tamindia.com .