News channels Times Now, India Today TV, NDTV return to BARC measurement

They had withdrawn from viewership measurement module in protest against Republic TV

English news channels like Times Now, India Today TV and NDTV 24x7, which had withdrawn from the viewership measurement module under the Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) as a sign of protest against the measurement of Arnab Goswami’s newly launched Republic TV, have returned to the fold.

The development comes a day after the Delhi High Court ruled out TV Today's petition on the release of Republic TV data by BARC India.

"We can confirm that as of midnight we are again seeing Watermarking signals of some channels which  had made public statements of having switched off their Watermarking. Their viewership will be reported according to BARC policy. We continue to maintain our position with regard to measurement of channels. There has been no change? on that account," BARC India said.

The BARC measurement technology uses digital watermarks to track the viewership of member channels. The watermark can be activated or deactivated by member channels after notifying BARC about it, with reason. 

Republic TV launched on May 6, and in its first week, claimed 52 per cent market share in the genre. In retaliation, English news channels, with the support of the News Broadcasters’ Association (NBA), argued that the data was skewed by the fact that the channel was telecast on multiple frequencies. Subsequently, seven news broadcasters, all members of the NBA, had removed themselves from the BARC measurement pool.

Having multiple frequencies to telecast a channel increases the possibility of the viewer coming across it and hence increase the probability of reach and viewership. The TV Today group had moved the Delhi High Court seeking a stay on the release of BARC data regarding Republic TV in an attempt to tackle the issue.

The English news channels had switched off the watermark after BRC India released data for the week May 6-12. Incidentally, the Delhi high court's verdict reiterated what BRC India had issued in its statement, that the matter needed to to be resolved between the broadcasters, distribution platforms, mainly multi-system operators, and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

Sources said in light of the Delhi High Court dismissing TV Today's plea against BARC India, and the threat of loss of ad revenue in a scenario of no TV ratings, NBA members opposing the release of Republic TV viewership data were forced to return to BARC India's TV viewership measurement system.

A news broadcaster said, “I will not comment on whether BARC should release ratings for the channel (Republic TV) or not, but I will say this: we as an industry need to reach a consensus on multi-frequency feeds. It not only hampers measurement, it is not fair on the smaller players. The big guys can splurge on carriage money, but the smaller players do not have that kind of money and it is not a fair practice. Perhaps a dialogue with the NBA, IBF, and Trai is what is required.”