TRAI, stakeholders discuss accreditation mechanism issue for

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today held an open house discussion on framing guidelines for an accreditation mechanism for TV rating agencies in the country.
Officials said there were discussions between TRAI officials and stakeholders on whether there should be an external regulator for the rating agencies or whether the industry should deal with it on its own.
TRAI had earlier received a reference from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in August 2012 seeking its advice on framing an accreditation mechanism for rating agencies.
The TAM ratings, currently used by many advertising agencies, have been for long a subject of controversy as broadcasters ranging from Prasar Bharati to NDTV have questioned their methodology and accuracy.

In its reference to TAM, the ministry had said the television rating measurement system in India suffers from several deficiencies and urgent action needs to be taken to put in place a credible and transparent television rating generation system.