Uncertainty over news data roll-out as BARC maintains stoic silence despite MIB order

It’s been two days since the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) gave go-ahead to the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India to release the news data after a 15-month blackout, but the uncertainty over the roll-out of news viewership data continues.

The MIB issued a statement on January 12 asking BARC India to release news data with immediate effect besides the last three months' data for the genre in a monthly format. Going forward, the reporting of news and niche genres will be on a four-week rolling average concept instead of weekly data as was the norm till the rating blackout in October 2020.

But BARC India has maintained a studied silence on the issue. Despite the MIB order, the audience measurement body is yet to communicate to its stakeholders about the data roll-out. "We haven't received any communication from BARC India on the news data release. Besides the press release which was circulated in the media community, there is no official communication from the ministry as well. That said, the data roll-out might not happen so soon," a senior executive with a top news network said on condition of anonymity.

The TV news industry is eagerly waiting for BARC India to release the data as the genre hopes to reap a windfall gain in ad revenue in the run-up to the state assembly elections which will conclude on March 10 with the declaration of results.

Advertising experts say that news channels will not be able to realise the gains from ad sales if ratings get delayed by a few weeks. Some ad sales executives believe that getting a rate hike in this environment of rising Covid-19 cases is easier said than done.

However, the wider industry is optimistic about incremental growth that will happen due to elections. The availability of data is expected to have a multiplier effect on ad growth. Most networks say that the availability of ratings data will be a boon for the genre which has been on an upswing in the last two years due to Covid-19.

Amid the gloom and doom environment, the consumption of news on TV and digital has seen an upsurge. However, the absence of data since October 2020 has meant that the news broadcasters have not realised the right value for their ad inventory. "The release of news data will allow broadcasters to get the right value for their inventory. Most broadcasters will hike their ad rates as soon as BARC starts publishing the data," an ad sales executive said.

According to senior executives in the news broadcasting industry, the absence of ratings has had a devastating impact on the genre in general and the long-tail channels in particular. However, leading networks like TV18, TV Today Network, ABP Network, and Zee Media Corporation are believed to have gained at the expense of smaller broadcasters in the absence of ratings.

Smaller networks and long-tail channels were eagerly waiting for the news data to resume just in time for the state assembly elections. But now it seems that their hopes of getting incremental revenue from the assembly elections might go kaput as the viewership data roll-out is expected to get delayed by a few weeks. In any case, the news genre data will get reported once in four weeks under the new system.

Meanwhile, BARC India’s failure to comply with the MIB diktat prompted the Arnab Goswami-helmed News Broadcasters Federation (NBF) to call upon the audience measurement body to release data without any delay. In a statement, NBF said that the audience viewership data is with BARC and withholding it despite clear instruction from the ministry is not necessary.

"BARC should comply and release the ratings of news channels without any further delay. If there are news channels that don’t want ratings they can be voluntarily exempt. NBF calls upon BARC to release the ratings and not delay this any further, to put an end to the severe challenge the news genre was facing as advertising was deeply hurt in absence of any ratings," NBF said in a statement.

The News Broadcasters and Digital Association (NBDA) also issued a statement claiming that its stand has been vindicated as MIB has recognised the need for improvement in the existing system. It is pertinent to note that NBDA has been dead against the release of viewership data till the credibility of the current system is restored. The reporting of news genre data was suspended in October 2020 following the allegations of meter tampering against some channels.

“The News Broadcasters and Digital Association’s (NBDA) stands vindicated as the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MoI&B) recognises the need for improvement, acknowledges the deficiencies, the need to urgently increase sample size and systemic corrections,” NBDA Secretary-General Annie Joseph said in a statement.

NBDA also said that it appreciates the reforms that are being undertaken to make the processes, protocols, and oversight mechanism at BARC India more robust. "It is heartening that the Ministry acknowledged that the rating system for TV news had deficiencies and took note of the suggestions made by NBDA."