I&B Ministry asks BARC to release news ratings with immediate effect
New Delhi, Jan 12: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) on Wednesday asked Indian broadcasters' body BARC to release news ratings with immediate effect after the council said it has taken initiatives to revise its protocols and mechanisms. This comes after over a year of suspension of television news ratings following the controversy surrounding the alleged TRP (television rating points) scam which came to the fore in October 2020.
The ministry asked the Broadcasters Audience and Research Council (BARC) to release the news ratings with immediate effect and also to release the last three months data for the genre in a monthly format for fair and equitable representation of true trends. According to the revised system, the reporting of News and Niche Genres shall be on a 'four week rolling average concept', the ministry said in a statement. The ministry has also set up a 'working group' under the chairmanship of Prasar Bharti CEO for consideration of leveraging the Return Path Data (RPD) capabilities for the use of TRP services, as also recommended by TRAI and the TRP Committee Report.
The
committee
shall
submit
its
report
in
four
months'
time,
the
ministry
said.
"In
the
spirit
of
the
TRP
Committee
Report
and
Telecom
Regulatory
Authority
of
India
(TRAI's)
recommendation
of
April
24,
2020,
Broadcast
Audience
Research
Council
(BARC)
has
undertaken
revision
in
its
processes,
protocols,
oversight
mechanism
and
initiated
changes
in
governance
structure
etc.
"The
reconstitution
of
the
Board
and
the
Technical
Committee
to
allow
for
the
induction
of
Independent
Members
have
also
been
initiated
by
BARC.
A
permanent
Oversight
Committee
has
also
been
formed.
The
access
protocols
for
data
have
been
revamped
and
tightened," the
ministry
noted.
BARC
has
indicated
that
in
view
of
the
changes
undertaken
by
it,
they
are
reaching
out
to
related
constituencies
to
explain
the
new
proposals
and
are
in
readiness
to
actually
commence
the
release
according
to
the
new
protocols.
In
an
official
order,
the
ministry
said
the
Joint
Working
Group
will
study
different
aspects
of
the
data
capturing
including
RPD
in
context
of
the
audience
measurement,
international
practices,
security
of
the
viewership
data
etc.
"The Group may study successful global best practices in RPD, like that of Canada, the models/ pilots undertaken in lndia by BARC and other independent experiments by DTH operators and other relevant stakeholders and formulate a mandate for combining the data sources including RPD, if so decided with the existing sampling methodology(ies)," it said. The Joint Working Group shall have Prasar Bharati CEO SS Vempati as the chairperson, and five members - one each from Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Bureau of Indian Standards, BARC, All India Digital Cable Federation and Harit Nagpal, president of the DTH Association.
The group will specify minimum standards for RPD capable STBS, SOPs for certification and audit of the same. It will specify common protocols, data standards and modifications to current ratings methodology so that data from RPD capable STBS could be integrated into the current TV ratings system. "Additionally, specify minimum standards for any smart phone-based apps to augment the above proposed RPD system for integration into the current TV ratings. Also specify for SOPs for certification and audit of the same," the ministry said. The group will evolve a consensus for how such different data sets including RPD/ smart phone-based data collection will be priced/costs shared within the framework of the TV ratings system.
It will specify consent-based privacy framework to govern all such data collection and use within TV ratings, and establish timelines for rollout of above with a clear roadmap to guide all stakeholders while laying out points of responsibility for the same. "The secretariat for the Joint Working Group shall be provided by Prasar Bharati. The Group may also invite any domain expert(s), and stakeholders representatives for its deliberations, if required. The Group shall submit its report to the Ministry of lnformation and Broadcasting within four months of the date of issue of this order," the ministry said. PTI