BARC’s shift to weekly unrolled ratings: What it means for news genre

New Delhi: The inexplicable anomalies in the television viewership data for the news genre during Operation Sindoor, as reported by BestMediaInfo.com, have led to the unrolling of data reporting across all genres, with BARC India informing its subscribers about the transition on Monday.

Starting Thursday, BARC will publish weekly viewership estimates without using rolling averages.

BestMediaInfo.com, through a series of investigative reports, highlighted the alleged suppression of television viewership data for the news genre under the guise of the four-week rolling average.

Last month, BARC India vindicated BestMediaInfo’s case against the four-week rolling average when it faltered in defending the viewership data for Operation Sindoor.

However, the damage was already done. The impact of the rolling average was such that the viewership data for Operation Sindoor gave the market the impression that very few people were watching news on television.

Several top advertisers and their media agency heads appeared convinced that news television—or traditional media—was left with only a handful of viewers. They began to identify fault lines in the editorial policies of media houses.

This was alarming for the news genre as a whole. The first step needed was to do away with the system that was sending incorrect and unbelievable signals. The damage four-week rolling data has inflicted on the news genre over the past three years is beyond recovery. Had it not been scrapped with immediate effect, the genre would have depleted faster than anyone could have imagined.

Cons of unrolling

Unrolling comes with the risk of chaos as channels plan their programming based on viewership, and the ensuing rat race often leads to a distortion in content quality. More often than not, news channels resort to hyperbole to gain immediate viewership.

Under the four-week rolling average, it was almost impossible for a channel to climb the rankings based on content alone. The true impact of content was rarely visible.

Pros of unrolling

At the same time, if a channel built its viewership on hyperbole, it was compelled to sustain it for a longer period to have any viewership impact under a four-week rolling regime. Now, channels may not face that compulsion, which could benefit the entire genre.

Unrolling will give an opportunity to channels intending to produce good content for specific occasions, events, or extended periods. Advertisers will be able to better gauge the impact of certain content.

All traditional media houses are in the news business for the long haul, and any attempt to focus on short-term gain will lead to the decline of the entire genre, ultimately impacting individual media houses.

Immediate impact

Starting Thursday in Week 24, the industry may witness significant shifts in the pecking order of news channels as the move to unrolling is expected to bring a major correction, especially in reach numbers, which have long been questioned by the industry regarding the algorithm’s accuracy.

Industry veterans told BestMediaInfo.com that a temporary change in rankings is unlikely to impact advertiser sentiment, as media planners typically rely on longer-term data when evaluating news channels.

The ability for a news channel to climb the rankings based on stronger content is a positive development, provided broadcasters do not exploit the transition.

Will unrolling become a reality this time?

Monday’s decision is reminiscent of BMI’s impact on the same issue when the I&B Ministry ordered the unrolling of data on November 20, 2023. At that time, the order was withdrawn under relentless pressure from certain news broadcasters.

When asked if the new decision might face a similar fate, BARC sources told BestMediaInfo.com that the decision is unlikely to be challenged this time.

“The broadcaster you are referring to has realised that his actions were detrimental to the entire news genre. Previously, the broadcaster cared only about individual interests. Any change in the reporting system is bound to affect the pecking order, and you can understand the fear among broadcasters,” a source at BARC India said.

When the I&B Ministry ordered unrolling in 2023, officials up to the secretary level were involved. In contrast, the ministry left the current decision to the BARC Board, which unanimously decided to report the data as it was before March 2022.

In January 2023, the majority of BARC Board members approved unrolling following a letter from the News Broadcasters and Digital Association (NBDA).

After being put in abeyance for 17 months due to the alleged TRP scam exposed by Mumbai Police on October 8, 2020, ratings for the news genre resumed on March 17, 2022, with a four-week rolling average.

However, the attribution of reach remained an unsolved puzzle for data scientists at BARC as well as industry stakeholders.

Several representations were made by news broadcasters to BARC, questioning the algorithm related to reach numbers, which, at times, exceeded those of general entertainment channels.