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NDTV says TV ratings manipulated
source:www.thehindu.com |
Slaps $1.39 billion lawsuit on TAM India and global parent firms
Nielsen & Kantar
News broadcaster NDTV has sued the country’s only television audience
measurement company TAM India — and its global parent firms Nielsen and
Kantar — for over a billion dollars in the Supreme Court of New York,
accusing TAM of manipulating ratings in return for bribes to its
officials.
While there have been allegations of manipulation of TAM’s viewership data
among broadcasters for years, NDTV has finally blown the whistle with its
July 25 lawsuit, seeking damages of at least $810 million for its losses
over the last eight years due to TAM’s allegedly fraudulent actions.
Accusing Nielsen and Kantar of deliberately ignoring the situation even
after having been presented with evidence — detailed in the 194-page
lawsuit — NDTV is also seeking damages of $580 million for losses due to
negligence over the last three years.
On Tuesday, NDTV reported a net loss of Rs. 26.09 crore for the quarter
ended June 30, 2012, significantly higher than the Rs. 17.98 crore loss
reported during the quarter ended June 30, 2011. Both TAM India and NDTV
refused to comment.
TAM installs “PeopleMeters” in over 8,000 sample homes to monitor
viewership patterns, giving critical input to corporate decisions on the
advertising purchases that fund and sustain the broadcast industry. In its
lawsuit, NDTV claims that the small sample size and low turnover have
given rise to rampant corruption, with touts willing to “fix” ratings by
influencing sample homes. One so-called “consultant” told NDTV and Nielsen
and Kantar officials in a January 2012 meeting how the list of PeopleMeter
homes — supposed to be secret — was leaked in Bangalore. He explained how
he was able to successfully bribe viewers in sample homes, as well as TAM
staff, and finally get a People Meter installed at his own residence.
In April 2012, two Mumbai field staff of TAM met NDTV representatives and
offered to manipulate the channels ratings, claiming that “they could
triple channel ratings of NDTV in Mumbai over a period of two to three
weeks in the required target group. They stated they had direct access to
homes and visited those homes periodically (at least 3 to 4 times a week)
and were in a position to easily influence what the households
watched/viewed. They said by paying a bribe of $250 to $500 per household
per month, the TAM households could be made to watch only those channels
which they insisted upon.”
After a thorough investigation, Kantar and Nielsen found the consultant’s
information to be correct and “very credible.” However, they failed to
take any action, and continued to release tainted TV rating data every
week.
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It is a
fact that TRP ratings were absolutely unscientific and have hurt Prasar
Bharati very badly. Many Private channels were able to grease the palms of
TAM and got good rating, fudged though. They made fast bucks. Doordarshan
channels were the losers. The method used by the TAM to assess the
viewership is faulty and without any scientific basis. The people meters
that have been installed aren’t enough in number – there are only 7,200
people meters in 148 cities with one lakh population, with a considerable
part of them in the metros. There are not enough in smaller towns. There
are no people meters in the North East and whole of J&K, Jharkhand,
Bihar.. There is not a single people meter in the 600,000-odd villages in
the country. People meters are not very effective modes of assessing what
people watch on TV.
Now with the law suit of NDTV it became quite evident that TAM ratings
were also manipulated by Private Broadcasters by paying bribes to
the rating agencies officials. FRIENDS OF PRASAR BHARATI demands that the
government should initiate action against the rating agencies involved in
this scam.
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Thank you for your interest.||||||
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