BARC board meets

The board recognised that BARC has the opportunity to change the paradigm and the solution should last for the next 15 to 20 years.

The Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) Board met on September 27 to evaluate the technology options and decide on the road ahead. It was recognised that BARC has the opportunity to change the paradigm and the solution should last for the next 15 to 20 years.

It implies that the body has already shortlisted technology partners.

The board agrees that there is a quantum jump in technology that is being envisaged. Considerable progress has been made in identifying suitable cutting edge technologies available for measurement of present and future broadcast distribution platforms. The board decided to authorise the BARC technical committee and the management to initiate pilots with these solutions to assess the suitability in Indian conditions.

For the record, BARC is a joint industry body set up in India in 2012 with the specific purpose of designing, commissioning, supervising and owning India's Television Audience Measurement System. BARC is a joint venture bringing together the three key stakeholders in television audience measurement - broadcasters, advertisers and advertising and media agencies. Their respective apex bodies, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) and the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), represent the three industries.