TV viewership ratings to come under govt’s scanner

Source: The Financial Express | Priyadarshi Siddhanta | New Delhi
January 08, 2014

SUMMARYNon compliance of the proposals would lead to forfeiture of bank guarantees worth Rs 1 crore.

In a clampdown on TV rating agencies, the government has decided to direct them to get officially registered with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, significantly broad-base the size of the sample households used by them for the viewership surveys and submit the detailed methodology of the assessment mechanism followed by them to the government.

The proposal by the ministry, listed to come up before the Cabinet on Thursday, requires TV rating agencies to enlist at least 50,000 households for the surveys, up from a sample size of around 10,000 being used currently. The move comes amid complaints from TV channels on the alleged opaque methodology employed by the rating agencies to size up viewership. The Television Audience Measurement (TAM) flowed by the TAM Media Research has come under flak from some TV channels, which have accused the body of indulging in unfair trade practices and making viewership projections through a flawed methodology.

Accordingly, the I&B ministry proposal seeks to usher in "...................

Read more at http://www.financialexpress.com/news/tv-viewership-ratings-to-come-under-govt-s-scanner/1216685