At last, broadcast audience research council sees the light of day

IBF, ISA and AAAI have announced the setting up of BARC which will comission and oversee the next generation of broadcast audience research in India

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | March 16, 2012

Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) and the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) have announced the setting up of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), which will commission and oversee the next generation of broadcast audience research in India.

TV audience measurement system, popularly referred to as the TRP system, has been the focus of considerable debate over the past few years at various forums include Parliament. A number of committees were formed, the most recent being the I&B Ministry-appointed Committee on TV Audience Measurement chaired Amit Mitra. A key recommendation of the Mitra Committee was the establishment of BARC representing the interests of all key stakeholders.

BARC will be established with IBF, ISA and AAAI holding 60, 20 and 20 per cent of the equity, respectively, in BARC. Correspondingly, a ten-member Board will be announced soon with these three bodies having 6, 2 and 2 directors, respectively.

With this, we should all look forward to heralding in a new generation of representative, reliable and robust broadcast audience measurement in India.

Paritosh Joshi, one of the directors on the IBF Board who has been instrumental in the formation of BARC, said, "I have been involved with BARC for exactly as long as the idea of a joint industry initiative for TV audience measurement has been with us -- the last six years. It is therefore particularly gratifying that after this long and arduous journey, with endless twists and turns, we have finally arrived at the long sought destination. I believe this is a transformational moment not just for ratings and audience measurement but for TV in India in general. All of us at IBF feel confident that we have got the formula right and this time it is irrevocable."

"Advertisers are always looking for transparent and robust research and in-depth insights in the rapidly changing television viewership landscape. The ISA is pleased to be part of the joint industry body, BARC, which is a major step in this direction,” said Bharat V Patel, Chairman, ISA.

Nagesh Alai, President, AAAI, commented, “AAAI has always believed in the best business practices that will drive value for all the stakeholders and the users of television medium. A scientific and rational research methodology is the central thought behind BARC and AAAI is happy to partner IBF and ISA in this endeavor.”

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