2020: A year of controversies for BARC

Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India, the only television audience measurement body in the country, has been in the news this year for many reasons, unfortunately most of them unwanted controversies. Whether it was the landing page issue, TV 9’s "unusual" rise in ratings or the most recent TRP scam, there have been several occasions this year when BARC found itself in a tight spot.

In the last few days since the Mumbai police made arrests in the TRP scam and named a national news channel along with two regional channels for allegedly tampering with BARC data, questions are being asked on the ratings agency's effectiveness to measure television viewership accurately. And this is not the first time in this year that BARC had to face these questions.

We take a look at some of the controversies that hit BARC this year

Landing Page Issue

On September 3, BARC India introduced algorithms into its data validation method to mitigate the impact of landing page on viewership data across all genres of channels. This was part of its ongoing ‘Data Validation Quality Initiative’ aimed at improving measurement science and mitigating impact on viewership of extraneous factors.

Though the move was welcomed by most broadcasters, some expressed concerns over its implementation, transparency and effectiveness. As per industry experts, this will primarily impact news channels or whoever invests in landing pages. Experts believe it may or may not impact the revenues for the channels in the beginning but will definitely offset revenues for the Distribution Platform Operators (DPOs) as it is counted as one of the major sources of revenue for them.

Speaking about th issue, MK Anand, MD & CEO, Times Network, had said they were contemplating legal action on BARC's decision. He believes the BARC order on the landing page is hostile. According to him, the reach that is coming out of landing pages is not spurious reach. Unlike the reach that is coming out of panel tampering, it is not real reach because it is only tampering that particular box that is getting measured and blindsights the advertiser. He also said that if BARC is measuring what India watches for creating a metric for the Indian advertiser to buy, then it shouldn’t be saying anything about the landing page.

'Unusual Spike' of TV9 Bharatvarsh ratings

In July this year, News Broadcasters Federation (NBF) reached out to BARC, expressing concerns about not just the ratings but also questioning the integrity and impartiality of the ratings body. They had pointed out the "unprecedented" growth of TV 9 Bharatvarsh’s viewership. As per media reports, NBA President wrote a letter to the Chairman of BARC, drawing his attention to several news reports about videos of a sting operation as a purported proof of tampering of panel homes by TV9 Bharatvarsh.

TRAI Interference

In April this year, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued a set of recommendations for BARC India in terms of the television audience measurement body’s structure, governance, operations, transparency and accountability.
The recommendations, TRAI said, was to address the issues or concerns expressed by stakeholders about BARC’s ratings service owing to its lack of transparency in sharing the methodology and representation of the panel home amongst various platform types. TRAI further said that the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) holding a majority stake in BARC compromises the objectivity and neutrality of the audience measurement body.

Suspension of News TV Ratings During COVID In April

As per media reports, some news channels reached out to MIB to suspend TV ratings for a few weeks. NBF President Arnab Goswami reached out to MIB to intervene to stop such a move. He also said that some news channels, in order to protect their commercial interests, are pushing to stop viewership measured by BARC through the ministry.