Industry applauds BARC-TAM tie-up

The media industry has breathed a sigh of relief – battle between BARC and TAM has come to an end even before it started. Television planning and buying would now be done based on a single currency, and hopefully no two channels in the same genre would now claim to be number One for the same time period.

In answer to a query by adgully.com, Partho Dasgupta, CEO, BARC India responded as follows:

“BARC and TAM India have partnered to create a meter management company which shall manage panel operations and related IT infrastructure. It is a win-win for both parties. BARC gets to expand the panel immediately and becomes the sole currency for the market. As for TAM (Kantar/Nielsen), they continue to focus on Adex, Print & radio measurement, S-Group, Eikona etc.”

As for how the relationship would work, he explains, “The management control of meter management company shall rest with BARC India. The transition process is being worked out.” He adds, “Furthermore, this is an era of cooperation and industry is coming together to do that in the best interest of all stakeholders.”

Industry surely believes that it is in the best interest of all stakeholder and has expressed its happiness with the new tie-up. Adgully spoke to a number of media stalwarts, while a few thought it was too early to comment, here is what others had to say:

Sam Balsara, Chairman, Madison World:

This is a step in the right direction and achieves multiple objectives at one stroke:
1.       It eliminates possible confusion in the market because of two currencies
2.       It enables BARC to scale up cost effectively by putting the additional meters to good and effective use
3.       It enables BARC to have ready access to trained people in the field
4.       It ensures that a large number of people don’t go out of their jobs
5.      There are sufficient checks and balances in place to ensure that BARC in course of time will discharge its responsibilities honourably.

Ashish Bhasin, ‎Chairman & CEO South Asia Dentsu Aegis Network:

“It is great that BARC & TAM have joined forces for the meters because definitely we don’t need two currencies for television ratings and BARC is the officially accepted ratings currency for the industry to use. Moreover, it is also good that the TAM meters will get utilized because that will help speed up the process of scaling to the meters required for BARC, so that the entire country can be quickly covered. We now look forward to robust viewership data, covering the entire country, and are particularly looking forward to rural data commencing soonest.

M.K. Anand, Managing Director & CEO, Times Network:

It is a great move. The new system has launched quite well. The usual teething troubles are mostly getting addressed. The lingering presence of the erstwhile measurement system as a shadow is confusing. There have been faint mentions of TAM by clients and that chatter needed to end. With this move the industry is truly and completely on BARC. The additional boxes and some talent from the older system will surely help in getting to maturity quicker. All in all, a great move for the industry and the two players.

Anita Nayyar, CEO India & South Asia at Havas Media:

The JV seemed inevitable. We almost saw this coming. The integration will make the output more robust. TAM's expertise will only add value. It is always good to have one measurement system which is robust and accurate. Since the broadcasters opted for the new measurement it should have a positive impact on the industry.

Sudhandhsu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18:

It is very good news for the Indian broadcasting industry. With BARC consolidating all the video audience measurement assets, we are happy that stakeholders will have a greatly 

improved view on reach and impact. The aggregation of people meters and panel management powered by BARC’s technology gives us an effective measurement system that expedites the solution on geographical coverage, sample size, and rural-urban reporting.

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