Ratings to be called impressions, says BARC

The new terminology that aims to avoid confusion in the marketplace comes in as the company gears up for digital measurement.

Eight months after it launched its television ratings service, the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India has re-named its viewership measurement metric Rat'000 as Impressions'000. An official statement says that the change will be "effective from January 14, when with the release of data of Week 1, 2016, the current Rat'000s will be referred to as Impressions'000s."

According to the company, the decision to use the changed terminology in the new year has been taken to avoid confusion in the marketplace, and also as BARC India gears up for its digital measurement initiative.

In a statement issued to the media, BARC India says, "Users of BARC India data may note that the new terminology does not imply any change in the way television viewership is measured. Nor will the introduction of Impressions'000 have any impact on past data BARC India has released so far."

The statement further clarified that the metric Rat per cent will continue to be used as it is, and will see no change.