BARC and TAM form meter management company

The new company will run meter operations and supply raw data to BARC India.

BARC India, the television rating company formed by broadcasters, advertising agencies and advertisers, and TAM India, the television audience measurement joint venture between Nielsen and Kantar, announced the formation of a new meter management company. This entity will run meter operations and supply raw data to BARC India.

Meters will be deployed based on BARC's sample design and the ratings will be computed and disseminated through BARC India's software.

The ratings data will be the sole trading currency for the country, giving advertisers, broadcasters and agencies accurate and quality measurement. The meter company will have the meter assets and panel management operations of the present BARC India and TAM India panels, which will be jointly owned by BARC India, Nielsen and Kantar, with management control resting with BARC India.

To start with, the company will have 34,000 meters, covering all of India, and will supply raw data to BARC, which will use its own statistical processes and sampling design. The details of the formation and roll-out of this new company will be shared in the coming weeks.

TAM India will continue to provide its non-TV ratings services to the market, namely AdEx - Advertising Expenditure for TV, Print, Radio, RAM - Radio Audience Measurement, Eikona - PR Audit, TAM Sports Measurement and S-Group Consulting.

Commenting on the development, Punit Goenka, chairman of BARC India, says, "This partnership is a big step forward and, in this era of cooperation, we welcome this move forward as a joint industry body. The technology and methodological prowess of BARC, combined with the extra meters and the field force, will definitely help the industry progress."

"This new venture represents our organisation's commitment to providing precise and stable data around the world, and draws strengths from both BARC India and TAM India," comments Steve Hasker, global president, Nielsen. "We look forward to the great coverage and representation this new partnership will deliver," he adds.

Eric Salama, CEO of Kantar, adds, "We are happy to cooperate with BARC India to be able to provide clarity and a large single sample for the industry, and to keep India as a key market for us."

BARC India was set up in 2012 with the specific purpose of designing, commissioning, supervising and owning India's television audience measurement system. BARC India 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.

Nielsen N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global performance management company that provides a comprehensive understanding of what consumers 'Watch' and 'Buy'. Nielsen's 'Watch' segment provides media and advertising clients with total audience measurement services across all devices where content - video, audio and text - is consumed. The 'Buy' segment offers consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers the industry's global view of retail performance measurement.

Kantar Media is a global media intelligence company, providing clients with the data they need to make informed decisions on all aspects of media measurement, monitoring and selection. Part of Kantar, the data investment management arm of WPP, Kantar Media provides comprehensive intelligence on media consumption, performance and value.