Broadcasters feel BARC could solve TV viewership concerns

Most broadcasters feel that the problems related to television viewership measurement would get solved once the industry's own audience measurement initiative - Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) is fully established.

Star India CEO and the President of Indian Broadcasting Federation (IBF) Uday Shankar said that work has already started in this direction.

"A lot of the concerns and questions raised over Television ratings would be settled after the establishment of the system under BARC. The process is going on and we need to fast track the process," Shankar told PTI.

"There is already an establishment survey being conducted and we are also in talks with the I&B Ministry for the formation of this mechanism," he added.

News broadcaster India TV's editor-in-chief Rajat Sharma also backed BARC saying that a more transparent system backed by all stakeholders was the need of the hour.

"Broadcasters, advertisers and media planners need to come together to evolve a more transparent system of TV ratings. Formation of BARC mooted by the IBF should be expedited," Sharma said.

"We owe it to the Broadcasting industry," he added.

Sunil Lulla, CEO of Times Global Broadcasting, said that while the recent developments related to Televising ratings may have brought the subject in focus, the industry was anyways moving towards setting up an alternative system.

"The industry has been always moving towards a more contemporary, a more robust system of measurement," Lulla said, adding that he too felt that BARC was the solution. (More)