SATELLITE & CABLE: Twin Peoplemeters double the trouble for India's media and marketing scene

<p>Fourteen months ago, after bitter competition, the </p><p>industry-authorised national Peoplemeter contract finally went to a </p><p>joint venture between the JWT-owned Indian Marketing Research Bureau </p><p>(IMRB), and ACNielsen. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>ORG-Marg, owned by media group Business India, lost the Peoplemeter </p><p>business - but reckoned correctly that there would be much official </p><p>palaver before the IMRB-Nielsen venture took off, and decided to go into </p><p>operation anyway with its own product, Intam. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>While large broadcasters like government-owned Doordarshan and Zee TV </p><p>fussed over funding the Peoplemeter project, the ORG-Marg product was up </p><p>and running, now with Dutch ally VNU. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Spurred by the success of the 'unofficial' research on TV viewing </p><p>habits, the IMRB-Nielsen combine finally put its funding together and </p><p>came out with their official product, TAM. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Many professionals have grave doubts about the direction that audience </p><p>research is taking and are hoping for a recognisable industry </p><p>standard. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Arun Kapoor, proprietor of Delhi-based ad agency Foresight, filed a </p><p>complaint with the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices </p><p>Commission, contending that the survey size in TAM/Intam is inadequate, </p><p>and that viewership data was liable to manipulation as both ventures are </p><p>owned by users of the data: IMRB by HTA (Indian JWT) and ORG-MARG by </p><p>Business India. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Nowhere else is a rating agency connected with an ad agency," Mr Kapoor </p><p>claimed, arguing that agencies do not want to antagonise TV channels </p><p>with which they do substantial business. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Earlier this year, white goods major Videocon levelled much the same </p><p>accusation in a public and bitter media battle and threatened punitive </p><p>legal action. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>ATN programming director Yogesh Radhakrishnan echoed Mr Kapoor's </p><p>comments and said, "No country in the world has two TV research </p><p>companies." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Radhakrishnan was also critical of the way research is conducted by </p><p>the two agencies. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"All foreign research is done with channel expanders," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"In Mumbai, 40-50 per cent of viewers have black and white TV sets and </p><p>colour TVs which are not cable-ready, showing 8-12 channels. How can a </p><p>TV set that receives 8-12 channels be monitored for 60 channels?" </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Illustrating the point that TV research in India is in its infancy, Mr </p><p>Amit Khanna, executive committee member of the Indian Broadcasting </p><p>Foundation and CEO of programme provider Plus Channel, said, "There is </p><p>very little qualitative research. Nobody really has a qualitative </p><p>research model suited to the Indian environment. The number of eyeballs </p><p>does not tell you anything. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In a comparative environment, you have to look for qualitative </p><p>research." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Rakesh Sharma, programming and marketing consultant with Tamil </p><p>language Vijay TV, said that while TAM and Intam provide broad </p><p>demographics of the family audience, they ignore the specifics. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"If you want a detailed analysis of the high end subscriber, 15-24 years </p><p>old in 200 satellite homes, the ratings don't show up because of </p><p>insufficient data," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Sharma's point of view was that research is not an end in itself. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"I look at research for 25 per cent, and 25 per cent total </p><p>experience. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Feedback comes from a variety of sources: people working within the </p><p>channel, advertisers, trade, social gatherings, anecdotal experience," </p><p>he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The remaining 50 per cent is gut feel, your analysis of the comparative </p><p>environment and what you think is right for that particular market." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Alex Kuruvilla, GM of MTV India and vice-president MTV International, </p><p>also believed that research was useful, though not an absolute tool. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>MTV subscribes to both TAM and Intam because, Mr Kuruvilla said, "I feel </p><p>that it is impossible to believe that you can ignore available </p><p>research." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The question that many professionals are asking is - why don't rivals </p><p>TAM and Intam pool their resources, combine their small data bases into </p><p>a larger, more meaningful one that can track a heterogeneous society </p><p>like India more authentically? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Until that scenario becomes a reality, Mr Peter Mukerjea, CEO of News </p><p>Television India (News Corp), will remain scathingly critical of the two </p><p>agencies. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The volumes of money spent on research in India is quite staggering and </p><p>is structured on thin ice," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"It is not robust enough and is open to interpretation. I'd like to save </p><p>money on research and deploy it elsewhere. Or get involved in pan-Asian </p><p>research. The opportunities to fudge would be less." </p><p><BR><BR> </p>