The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has given a go ahead to BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) to furnish broadcasters with unprocessed data.
In a letter addressed to BARC CEO, Nakul Chopra it was said they may share Raw Level Data(RLD) upto the preceding week (i.e. RLD data of the viewership for W-1th week when the TRP is being reported for the Wth week) with the
broadcasters in a transparent and equitable manner while ensuring that the integrity and confidentiality of the BARC panels is maintained at all times. “All the requisites and prescriptions of the said TRP Policy Guidelines in this respect must be adhered to by BARC,” the letter said.
Stakeholders in the television business have long been looking at some changes that could be introduced in the television measurement system. One of the them is raw data.
In their to MIB about RLD, BARC had assured the ministry, that the data is sufficiently masked and anonymized and do not include personally identifiable information of panels thereby ensuring the secrecy, privacy and integrity
of the panel homes. BARC had also conveyed that they are already sharing the RLD data with advertisers
and media agencies.
This apart, sometime back a section of stakeholders also requested pausing of ratings in the news genre. However, that request never saw the light of the day.
Thanks to collective pleas by broadcaster’s bodies that wrote to MIB on the matter. In their plea they and highlighted how a halt in BARC ratings for the news genre would affect operations and livelihoods, making news channels less competitive within the industry, ratings directly impact news businesses’ revenue, and disruptions could lead to a skewed, uncompetitive market. The pleas also pointed out that the news industry, on the brink of a General Election year and resource planning and investments could be jeopardized by rating disruptions.