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Two weeks after
the meeting between the rating agencies and broadcasters on the
controversial people-meter panel leak, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation
(IBF) has set up a committee to investigate the issue. The move
to set up the committee assumes significance in the light of the
fact that one of the IBF members had recently demanded suspension
of the publication of Tam and Intam ratings till these were revamped.
The IBF committee,
which has representatives from various television channels, will
have to submit a detailed report on its investigation of the TRP
imbroglio within the next three weeks. This committee comprises
executives from Star, Sony Entertainment Television (SET), Zee Network,
Enadu, Sun and Doordarshan.
Ever since
the people-meter lists for Tam and Intam television rating points
(TRP) leaked last month in Mumbai and Chennai, the broadcasting
industry has been in a tizzy. The reason is that TRPs are the very
basis of advertising revenues for these broadcasters.
To probe into
how Tam/Intam lists were leaked into public domain and to find a
solution to the problem, broadcasters, under the IBF umbrella, had
met Tam and Intam chiefs in Mumbai on September 14. It emerged from
that meeting that both Tam and Intam had agreed to revamp their
people-meter panels as soon as possible.
Although broadcasters
and rating agencies decided that there would not be any suspension
of the publication of the Tam/Intam ratings, Zee CEO Sandeep Goyal
recently shot off a letter to ORG-MARG CEO Titoo Ahluwalia, thereby
sparking another round of controversy.
According to
reports, in his letter to Mr Ahluwalia, Mr Goyal sought suspension
of the publication of Tam/Intam ratings immediately. The data provided
by Tam and Intam is ‘seriously influenced’, the letter
suggested. Erroneous Tam/Intam data impacts the business of channels
including that of Zee, Mr Goyal added in his letter.
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