Yesterday, the weather in Mumbai was cloudy with some areas reporting scattered rains. Inside the Nehru auditorium BARC’s promising session remained uneventful. The mystery hardly got resolved. What one heard were futuristic promises. With the IRS episode fresh in mind and BARC many months away from data release, this status update seemed more aimed at leaving no square vacant for a later date checkmate.
logo refernce barcindia.co.in
The update by the BARC team was like an election manifesto; full of good intent. Hopefully technology will ensure smooth and quality execution. The BARC team wants to start basic reporting before tackling never ending value enhancement demands from industry.
The presenters understandably were unwilling to share much information. Most good question returned unanswered. Presenters cited BARC Board directive as something that held them back! No harm in being cautious and not to over-promise and under-deliver.
BARC is definitely on the right track, promising what industry needs; a robust data with minimal error percentage. That this is the need is no rocket science. But the most important question – when and how – remained unanswered.
The team at BARC must be applauded getting the best technology for Indian situation. They are sensitive to the industry need and well aware of possible mal-practices. Their roadshow itself was inspiring confidence on BARC’s future delivery.
A lot rides on the data BARC will project and its natural for anxiety to build up as a new technology (watermark) and new NCCS reference points will be used. So here is the gist.
pic- barcindia.co.in
BARC TV viewership draws on Watermark technology embedding signals during transmission at the broadcaster end. This is picked by the recorder/ meter/ devise when people watch TV. The signal through integrated SIM card in the device sends back information to Data analytics team. This is cross-matched with the logs maintained at two centres (Mumbai-Bengaluru). Net data is projected basis 20,000 HH (expected to go up to 50,000 in 3 years). Reporting uses IRS, Census data references to finally report TV Viewership on NCCS Grid, mainly in U and U+R basis.
BARC data will be primed to report ‘What India is watching’ and will cover almost all states. Data devices placement PROMISESreflect 153 MN TV sets geographical dispersion on state level. It will give report basis ‘telecast + 7day’ accounting for repeat / delayed viewing too. But rural standalone will not be reported.
The BARC team seems to be moving with the demand imposed by current technology. A lot of promises are being made: Robustness of reported data. Reduced margin of error. Holding back non-stabilized data. Adhering to government guidelines. Transparency and external audit. Reporting on multi screen basis. Attempt to map viewership on digital devices, TV Viewership on same day basis. 25% annual churn in panel. Internally and across business associates information shared on need-to-know basis. Strong filters to prevent infiltration. Etc. etc.
The openness of the BARC team for suggestions sends out positive signals. Add to it BARC’s confidence in creating rules to prevent stakeholders disputing unfavorable results. Just a reminder on this one: the IRS had such conditions as part of their member agreement but we all know the situation. Surely only Time has the answer on this one. Meanwhile Industry waits for BARC to deliver the final bite.
The article first published on MXMINDIA.com on 19th September 2014
Sanjeev Kotnala is Head Catalyst at P1P2SOLUTIONS and can be reached at netkot@yahoo.com. The views expressed here are his own.
