BARC India's BI Study stuck in blame game, but who's really to blame?

New Delhi: As the Indian media and entertainment industry awaits the release of BARC India's new Broadcast India (BI) study, the stakeholders are left clueless about any possible release date. 

The study that provides insights into television viewership habits and TV ownership patterns across India was resolved to be a regular exercise conducted every alternate year. However, it was last released in 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Even the latest BI survey raised several concerns as it was released using a projection method based on historical data due to challenges arising from the implementation of the New Tariff Order (NTO) in 2019. 

As the NTO implementation led to significant changes in the television industry, including changes in channel distribution and pricing, BARC India then said that the disruption made it difficult to conduct a comprehensive survey.

The broadcasters accused BARC India of arbitrarily increasing the weightage of rural households and the free platform (DD Freedish).

The global pandemic in 2020 severely impacted fieldwork and data collection efforts through 2021.

Sources from BARC India and other stakeholders held each other responsible for the fresh deadlock.

BARC sources told BestMediaInfo.com that the rating agency was ready with the findings and the decision to publish the same has to be taken by the IBDF.

“The delay is from the IBDF side. IBDF is in the process of electing its new president and we will have to wait until then,” said a source.

On the other hand, the sources from the IBDF side told BestMediaInfo.com that the delay is wrongly attributed to the election of the president. 

“The study is not 100% complete and it lacks data from a few states,” the source from the IBDF side said.

Expected to be conducted periodically, the BI study provides valuable information for broadcasters, advertisers, and media planners. It helps them understand audience preferences, make informed decisions, and optimise their strategies.

“We were waiting for the roll-out of the new BI Study expecting some course correction in suspiciously high weightage for free platform and rural households. The speed at which consumer preferences are changing is unprecedented and making the industry function on the basis of a study without a comprehensive survey released 6-7 years ago is unacceptable,” said a senior executive at a large television network.

The BI study is equally important for advertisers to identify the target audience for specific programs and channels in order to evaluate the effectiveness of their campaigns.

The absence of accurate and up-to-date viewership data has led to uncertainty and caution among advertisers, impacting ad spending and revenue for broadcasters.

“This kind of delay is hurting the businesses across industries. Whatever the excuse, it must be addressed as soon as possible,” said a senior executive at a top FMCG brand.

The delay in conducting the BARC India study has already had an adverse impact on the Indian media and entertainment industry and the stakeholders expect that BARC India will soon provide accurate and timely data to the industry. 

“This will help restore confidence, enable data-driven decision-making, and contribute to the growth of the Indian media and entertainment sector,” said an industry veteran.