The world of TV viewership is like a Rubik’s cube—every new insight revealed leads to yet another puzzle. Who is watching what? What works and what doesn’t? Is an advertiser really betting on the right show/channel to connect with his TG? Where is the maximum potential for return on investment (RoI)? There are hundreds of such questions that one needs to address, while people enjoy their daily dose of entertainment.

With the mushrooming of new channels in the GEC, niche and news spaces, a proliferation in OTT (Over The Top) services, and greater digitisation in the country, the TV viewership measurement system has seen its share of ups and downs. The last couple of years witnessed ratings—the measurement currency—coming under the scanner, leading to the industry getting together to find a solution. Formed by three stakeholders in 2012—Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) and Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI)—the smeasurement body Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India claims to be both robust and transparent.

Partho Dasgupta, CEO, BARC India has this to say.  “When I took over as BARC India CEO, the endeavour was to deliver audience estimates with precision and reliability while also adhering to global research standards including statistical samples, measurement technology, collection, processing and reporting.” In order to meet these requirements, the measuring body decided to use technology as its differentiator to give precise and high fidelity ratings. It opted for a multi-vendor model (around 30 vendors), instead of a single vendor to do everything.

BARC India started with rolling out household ratings on April 29, followed by individual ratings and within six months, rural ratings. Today, the inclusion of rural India’s viewership data can give more comprehensive information to broadcasters and advertisers which will help them build stronger insights around what India watches, according to general industry sentiment. BARC’s efforts like the upcoming launch of India’s Universe Estimation study on television ownership and viewing habits are only going to fuel growth in measurement. The study will provide the marketing industry with an in-depth understanding on the count and composition of television households in the country.  Recently, BARC and TAM Media Research formed a meter management company, by way of a 51:49 JV. “As the industry wanted one ratings currency, this will help,” says Dasgupta.

Meanwhile TAM, a 50:50 JV between Kantar and Nielsen, continues to give television ratings and will share its peoplemetres with BARC to fasten the process. TAM has extended its expertise to radio and digital media players. In association with IMRB it launched TeleWeb, a guide to measure the combined viewership, reach and frequency of television channels, websites and mobile apps, last month. Digital ad spends on an average have been growing by almost 50% annually, and are soon expected to gain a 10% share of the  ad pie.

“Advertisers today are looking at splitting their budgets between TV and digital which was earlier done on a silo basis. Consumption is changing and hence the need for research adapting to these changes,” says LV Krishnan, CEO, TAM Media Research.

A smooth transition?

From a strategic perspective, the shift to BARC addressed a long standing need to equip TV planning in India with the growing complexity in the TV environment. Digitisation, growing viewership of HD, rise of non-linear time-shifted viewing and geo-targeting are but a few of the changes that have transformed the TV planning landscape. It was important to equip planners with robust data based on a wider representation of TV viewership, use measurement techniques on par with the best in the world and align TV planning with the new social classification metric, NCCS (New Consumer Classification System).

However, the transition hasn’t been an easy one. The body had to conduct numerous roadshows and still continues to conduct meetings to get stakeholders to understand the new terminologies and technology.

The ratings dark period, when broadcasters and media agencies were shifting from the old systems to the new ones, allowed them to gauge  the changes.

From TVT (Television Viewership in Thousands) to Rat ‘000s (number of individuals in thousands of a target audience who viewed an event, averaged across minutes), the new technology has brought in new terms and methodology.

The ‘universe’ has changed as well with 22,000 barometers installed, and this number is only rising until it reaches 50,000 reporting home panels. The minimum sample size has also been increased to 200, versus the TAM minimum mandate of 50.

Like any new system, it may take  time for the transition to be complete.  “The data released by BARC India is in phases. For example, household data was released first, followed by individual data. Similarly, urban data was released in the first instance and then the rural data is coming out,” says Mukesh Sharma, additional DG, Doordarshan Kendra Mumbai. Ashish Bhasin, chairman & CEO South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network, adds, “The biggest change since BARC India has come into play has been the undoubted faith in the currency which is necessary for the industry to grow.”
Changing dynamics

Sure, the new process prides itself on showcasing the fidelity of the system. But what has truly made everyone stand up and re-look their media plans is the release of rural ratings. One has to remember that there are product categories which make higher margins in rural areas and a sizeable part of media spends go with a rural focus. “Till date there was little accountability of these spends and there was blind targeting. With the introduction of rural data, we have been able to meet this need gap,” says Dasgupta.

Consider this: 56% of rural audiences are youth, which is another audience worth focusing on. Now that these segments are measurable, marketers should tap into this potential and factor rural data in television planning. While sectors like FMCG are already active in Indian villages, it is expected that rural data will assume greater importance in market priority across the industry.

For biscuits and confectionery manufacturer Parle Products, 45-50% of its sales comes from rural India and with ratings showing that more than 50% viewership comes from rural India, the brand is re-looking its plans. “Rural data will help marketers understand which channels they should give weightage to, especially niche channels,” says Pravin Kulkarni, GM, marketing, Parle  Products.

With the ‘All India’ data (urban + rural), what has come to the fore is the inclusion of free to air channels in the top 10 Hindi GECs list. This is a big change to both broadcasters and advertisers. Competition in each genre has increased tremendously with time. There is no clear leader in most of the genres as there is a tough fight almost everywhere for the top slot. Rural viewership contributes to around 47% to the total TV viewing.

“By just adding rural reports, there is almost a two and half times jump in the television viewership and obviously this is great news. Advertisers know precisely their money’s actual worth,” says Ritu Dhawan, managing director, India TV.

Gazing through a crystal bowl

Given the challenges in a country as diverse as India, it is doubly tough to deliver a measurement system on par with the best in the world. TAM, has gone ahead and preempted the need for multi-screen measurement, particularly for second and third screens. With a panel of 8,500 in six metros, TeleWeb will map audiences of 15 years and above across various social economic backgrounds. The data from TAM and IMRB’s web audience measurement (WAM) will be merged with TV viewership data to help advertisers in pre-planning TV and digital campaigns.

BARC India too acknowledges the demand for such an all-round measurement system and according to Dasgupta, is working towards launching digital measurements across mobile, tablets and other OTT platforms by 2016.