Trai mulls expert body to streamline TRP business

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In an effort to streamline the television rating point (TRP) business and to firm up accuracy of audience research measurement in the country the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is studying the option to recommend setting up of a body broadly on the lines of Media Rating Council (MRC) of the US. The proposed national expert body could constitute of representatives of all stakeholders including the government.

While exact details are yet to be finalised, the body would be responsible for the establishment and administration of minimum standards for the rating operations, the accreditation of rating services on the basis of information submitted by such services and auditing of the services through independent firms, according to a Trai official.

The body would be expected to strive for improvement in the quality of TRP business that is currently handled by the agencies rendering the services (Tam and aMap) and impart better understanding to the applications, strength and weaknesses of the prevailing rating business. The mandate of the body could revolve around securing valid, reliable and effective data for the media industry and users of audience measurement services, to evolve and determine minimum disclosure and basic criteria for TRP business and to provide and administer an audit system designed to inform users as to whether such audience measurements are conducted in conformance with the criteria and procedures developed.

If Trai decides to adhere to the MRC model without modification, then all stakeholders could claim membership in the body except for the rating agencies that would minimize the chances of services like Television Audience Measurement Ltd (Tam, an IMRB and AC Neilson initiative) and Audience Measurement and Analytics Ltd (aMap) having a say in the matter or the regulator may consider modifying the original model to adopt a system where the players could also be involved in some capacity.

The body may also be given the responsibility of supervising external audits of rating service operations performed by a specialized team of independent auditors. Based on the auditor's report it could decide on the question of whether a rating service merits accreditation (or renewal of accreditation).