Govt probes TAM's measurement system

Publication: Business Standard
Provider: Business Standard

August 10, 2012

BS Reporters Mumbai/New Delhi Following NDTV's lawsuit against Nielsen and Kantar Media, the co-owners of TAM Media Research, the government is investigating about the measurement system followed by TAM, and has asked the industry stakeholders to come up with an alternative.

"The ministry and Prasar Bharati are independently collecting information about the measurement system followed by TAM. We are also questioning TAM about the methodology followed by them," said a senior official at the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B), on condition of anonymity.

"We are going to take action on the basis of the data we compile," the official added. After the alleged discrepancies in television viewership data, the I&B ministry and broadcasters had questioned the methodology and transparency used by the agency.

TAM has refused to comment on the issue so far. Being the only agency in the broadcasting industry that collects data from TV households and tabulates them to determine television viewership patterns, its findings are influential among broadcasters, media agencies and advertisers.

Broadcasters feel TAM's sample size is too small and the numbers are not correct indicators of viewership in a fragmented television market like India. At present, TAM has about 8,150 people meters installed across 161 cities. The agency plans to touch 10,000 homes in 225 cities.