BARC to give individual level viewership data from June 4

The data will also factor in Jammu Kashmir, North East and Goa, which was never done before

From Thursday, the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) will provide individual data, along with household data, for television viewership. A ratings agency under BARC now takes into account data from about 12,000 households from cities and towns with populations exceeding 100,000, including regions such as Jammu & Kashmir, the northeast and Goa, which weren’t included earlier.

Now, the ratings will be released every Thursday, instead of Wednesdays, as was the norm since its launch.

“We had always maintained we will roll out individual data a few weeks after household data. We are following that. Both household and individual data (will be available) in the software (installed with subscribers),” says Partho Dasgupta, chief executive of BARC India.

Both BARC and TAM India will be releasing ratings on the same day. The week considered by TAM will be Sunday-to-Saturday. Most broadcasters, agencies, advertisers, etc, have withdrawn their subscription to TAM, a Kantar- and Nielsen-promoted company. Most contracts that expired on March 31 weren’t renewed, which resulted in substantial revenue loss for TAM.

In an email interaction with Business Standard, Kantar chief executive Eric Salama had said the agency had no intention of pulling out of India.

“While it might seem TAM has been shoved aside, the agency hasn’t given up. It has continued releasing viewership data to the media. It had stopped doing so about three years ago, owing to the insistence of its subscribers. So, at a time when the industry wasn’t subscribing to its ratings and BARC hadn’t rolled out, TAM ratings were still available and I am sure agencies and advertisers were glad about it,” says a veteran from the sector.