Advertisers left with no option but to cancel activity on eight broadcast groups

Commenting on the current impasse on the Television Audience Measurement, Arvind Sharma, President of the Advertising Agencies Association, said, "For fourteen years, TAM has been the TV Audience measurement system in the country. It has been the currency on the basis of which advertising planning, buying and selling have been conducted. We all agree that this measurement system needs to evolve. That is the common goal towards which Broadcasters, Advertisers and Advertising Agencies came together to create Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC).BARC will take ten months or so to start generating its audience measurement data. In the meantime, however, if individual broadcasters try to force unilateral changes in the current system, as some have tried, it will result in a disorderly and hybrid measurement system. It will become impossible for advertising agencies and advertisers to plan and therefore, buy TV spots. In this scenario, it is natural for advertisers to begin to question the value of advertising in this medium at all. Cancellation of TV releases by many advertisers on eight network groups that have insisted on unilateral changes is a natural outcome of that. More clients are following".

AAAI believes that any change in the TV measurement system needs to be thought through and to have support from all the three industry constituents - broadcasters, advertisers and advertising agencies. "We continue to be firmly of the belief that dialogue among all constituents is essential for evolving the system. We remain open to discussions, as always. However, this does require similar openness across all constituents. We will continue to work towards a dialogue", said Arvind Sharma.

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