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The MIB may bring in a watermark-based mechanism as part of its proposal to end the practice of viewership arising from landing pages being counted in television rating points, senior industry sources have confirmed with e4m.
The proposal states that “Landing Page can be used only as a marketing tool,” effectively delinking it from audience measurement.
Read e4m report on the MIB's proposed TRP reforms with respect to landing page
The watermark-based identification will make a clear distinction between normal broadcast feeds and landing page feeds, sources said.
BARC has already been using frequency-based watermarking to measure viewership but the body will now reportedly bring in other watermarks to landing page signals.
Read e4m analysis on why the move may affect cable revenue
This will enable meters to detect and exclude such pages from viewership data.
However, the watermarking will lead to broadcasters cutting down their spends on this marketing tool, experts have shared.
e4m has earlier reported that estimates suggest broadcasters collectively spend around Rs 250 crore annually on these slots.