BARC scours for global best practices, sends a 'Request for Information' for TV audience measurement

The Broadcast Audience Research Council, India (BARC) today issued a global Request for Information (RFI) to seek understanding of the best practices in the area of television audience measurement research.

Punit Goenka, chairman, BARC, and managing director and chief executive officer, ZEE, said, “BARC is committed to building a television audience measurement system that becomes ipso facto the gold standard in its class worldwide. Given that BARC addresses a population of over one billion, of which over 0.6 billion have access to television in some form, I am confident that BARC will settle for nothing less than being the best.”

Shashi Sinha, chairman - TechComm, BARC, and chief executive officer, Lodestar UM and IPG Mediabrands India, added, “At various times, more than one vendor has attempted to provide audience measurement but from 2002, TAM Media Research, India - a joint venture of Nielsen and Kantar - has been the de facto provider of the measurement currency, being widely used by all three stakeholder constituencies for all commercial and marketing decision making. It is clear that legacy architecture of the system, that has evolved incrementally, is now ready for seminal change. However, what is not clear is the contours of the new system, which BARC aims to define.”

A statement from BARC informed that the industry body understands that a good system rests as much on a sound understanding of the footprint of the medium (establishment study) as it does on continuous tracking of viewing behaviour (television meter panel). It further stated, "BARC is also aware of a number of technologies at varying stages of development that promise non-intrusive or minimally intrusive viewership measurement. BARC is also aware of developments in the area of integrated media consumption metrics e.g. IPA’s Touchpoints 4 exercise scheduled for next year. All these are of interest to the architecture of the future system in India. BARC expects respondents to incorporate their own experiences in these areas as items of emphasis in the response to this RFI. This RFI seeks ideas, templates, experiences, that will help BARC to blueprint the new television audience measurement system."

Respondents need to provide their credentials, TV measurement markets currently in their portfolio, organisation structure, focus towards India and finally their experience with TV audience measurement research on or before the 5 February 2013. The TechComm team comprising of Sinha (representing Advertising Agencies Association of India), Paritosh Joshi, member - TechComm, BARC and principal, Provocateur Advisory (representing Indian Broadcasting Foundation) and Smita Bhosale, member - TechComm, BARC and head, CMI - brand building - South Asia, Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (representing Indian Society of Advertisers) would evaluate responses.

Select respondents would receive a Request for Proposal (RFP) after BARC concludes its study of inputs received.