Indian Measurement Body MRUCI Elects New Leaders

The Media Research Users Council India (MRUCI) has elected Vikram Sakhuja, Partner and Director at Madison World, as Chairman, and Dhruba Mukherjee, CEO of ABP, as Vice Chairman.

MRUCI conducts research into audiences for media including newspapers, television, radio and outdoor ad hoardings. Its continuous print / multi-media readership and consumer habits survey, the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) was established through the merger of the country's two main print readership studies: the National Readership Survey (NRS) conducted by the National Readership Studies Council, and its own original Indian Readership Survey (IRS).

At a Board meeting following the organisation's 31st AGM on Monday, Shashidhar Sinha was named as Chairman of the IRS Technical Committee; while three new faces were added to the Board of Governors: Navaneeth LV, CEO of THG Publishing; Surinder Chawla, President Response at Bennett, Coleman & Co.; and Upali Nag, President Strategy - South Asia, WPP Media.

Sakhuja (pictured) brings nearly four decades of experience, from roles including Global CEO of Maxus WW, and South Asia CEO of both GroupM and Mindshare. On the client side, he has held senior titles at P&G, Coca-Cola and Star TV. Mukherjee joined ABP in 1997 and worked in brand management, audience development, ad sales and production prior to taking the top job.

Sakhuja succeeds Shailesh Gupta, who has served as Chairman for the last two years.

Also at the meeting, the organisation approved the launch of a pilot of the new Indian Readership Survey (IRS), encompassing one metro area and two states. Gupta said this initial exercise 'ensure[s] financial prudence while building operational confidence', and added: 'The learnings from this phase will guide the nationwide rollout, delivering a robust and credible readership measurement system that the print industry deserves.'

Web site: www.mruc.net .