Star India‘s long awaited direct to home (DTH) project has taken another step towards becoming reality and it has teamed up with consumer electronics and telecom biggie BPL for this.

Star will be using BPL‘s retail outlets for distributing consumer set top boxes. The possibility of a Star-BPL deal had been talked about four years ago when the Rupert Murdoch-promoted company first toyed with the idea of getting into DTH in India.

ORG MARG and TAM Media Research today issued releases responding to industry concerns about the credibility of the ratings systems they have instituted:

ORG MARG:

1) We are checking the level of accuracy of the lists of INTAM metered homes circulated anonymously yesterday. The checks so far indicate that, in the lists, some are indeed metered homes but others are not. We are also undertaking a full-feldged investigation to determine where the leak could have occured. The investigation is covering both internal and external possible sources of the leak.

2)The manner in which the lists have been circulated (through an anonymous letter) in the media would suggest that there is a vested interest behind this, who is clearly nor happy with independent ratings and wants to discredit them. We are hoping that our investigation will throw some light on it. In this context, we are obviously concerned about the comment made by an industry leader on TV yesterday that he had heard that someone hired private detectives to follow our field staff in order to trace the panel home.

3)Obviously wherever our investigation confirms that a panel household has been traced, such a household will be immediately dropped. Between yesterday and today, we have already dropped all homes where even journalistic contact has been reported.

4)It is worth mentioning that, as a matter of course, INTAM carries out a series of panel quality checks to assess the validity of the data. These checks do not, prima facie, indicate any kind of tampering with the data. It would therefore be wrong to jump to conclusion that just because someone has been able to get his hands on the list, the data is incorrect. For that to be so, members of the panel households would have to be approached, and their co-operation obtained to actively key in false data; the checks that we carry out every week do not provide any such cause for concern.

5)We have always ensured that lists of panel housholds are accessible to the absolute minimum number of our employees. However, we are further tightening all security measures throughout the country.

6)We feel it is very important to consult all INTAM subscribers (channels, advertisers, advertising agencies, production houses, investment analysts, etc), and will be meeting them very soon to do so.

TAM Media Research:

1)We are currently undertaking a complete investigation to identify the possible sources of leakage. The investigation will also explore the vested interests behind the circulation of the lists to the media. The fact that this was circulated through an anonymous letterimplies it was done to cast aspersions on the quality of the data provided.

2)A meeting of all subscribers is proposed to be convened shortly where we plan to share with them the action plan that we propose to undertake.Even though there is no evidence of data tampering, as a matter of abundant caution, we are proposing to completely revamp the panel in Mumbai.

3)As a first step we have contacted all our existing panel members to ascertain whether anyone contacted them to falsify the TV viewing data. We have also initiated a complete review of the panel all across the country and enhancing the security systems and procedures.

The Communication Convergence Bill, 2001, which was introduced in Parliament on the last day (last Friday) of the monsoon session, has been referred to a standing committee attached to the communications ministry.
The referral took place yesterday and according to sources the left party CPM‘s Somnath Chatterjee is heading the committee. This is being seen as a hurdle to quick movement on the bill as he is expected to go through the bill with a fine tooth comb.

The sources expressed surprise that the bill was not referred to a select committee (which would have allowed the government to pack the panel with its supporters).

The L?affaire TRPs for sale has raised a few questions. Even indiantelevision.com was at the receiving end of an anonymous docket yesterday evening containing the same scandalous details about the two TRP systems ? INTAM and TAM - as was received probably by CNBC India and scores of other newspapers and magazines.It was addressed to me with Mumbai as the address; no further details were provided. It was delivered by a well-dressed man who obviously was not a courier but an employee of an agency which was commissioned to deliver the dockets. He disappeared as quickly as he came.

Apparently, an effort was on to disparage the two people meter systems. For reasons known best to the industry. Apparently, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation has been in conversation with the ad agencies and the two research bodies to clean up both INTAM and TAM?s acts and the two had been reticient.

Even as little as two months ago when I met up with the CEO of a channel I was told that the ratings game sucked and the two agencies had lots of holes in their ratings modus operandi. And if indiantelevision.com was really interested in television, we would investigate into the matter and blow the cover off TV ratings in India.

We simply chose not to pursue the issue. Other publications and magazines were also approached; all of them were wary. Because indeed, everyone in industry knows that TV ratings are not perfect; they are simply meant to be an indicator of viewing trends. Today, it is Star Plus which is leading the ratings game and has been doing so for the past year. Two years back it was Zee TV with Sony neck and neck with it. Zee TV was perched atop the ratings pecking order for four years. Before that DD was Lord of all it aired to, if one went by the diary entry method employed by both IMRB and ORG-Marg. Tomorrow, it could well be SABe TV which shoots up there. Or for all you know Sahara TV.

Hence, there was no cause for panic and attempting a tehelka, which may well prove to be a wrong turn. One checked with neighbours; one checked with children, one checked with relatives in smaller towns what they were watching and everywhere one got the response - KBC and KSBKBT or Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki during prime time. All were on Star Plus.

Like was the case with Zee TV, a couple of years ago. And the ratings reflected that. While we did not know whether the numbers were totally accurate; they at least appeared to reflect what individuals told us.

To us l?affaire TRPs for sale appeared to be a motivated campaign with a single-point agenda: discredit the ratings and hence create doubts about Star Plus? pole position in the viewership ratings sweepstakes.

The documents sent to our office have one attachment which purportedly explains how Star and Balaji Telefilms manipulate the ratings.

Who stands to benefit if the two are discredited? The other big two: Sony and Zee TV. While the rival channels may roast us for stating this so blatantly, they cannot run away from the fact that they have to focus on the basics: improve their programming; give shows that viewers want and not what advertisers or CEO?s friends want to supply. Focus on the basics; focus on the viewer.

There is a lot of talk doing the rounds in the television industry as to the possible movers behind all this and they need to be mentioned.

One possibility is that the two rivals got together on the discredit TRPs campaign. After all my enemy is your enemy; so we are friends. Zee TV supplied the list; Sony Entertainment used CNBC to stoke the controversy. After all CNBC is part of the Sony bouquet and has the right SEC audience; blowing the issue on Zee News made little sense; on CNBC it made eminent sense.

Another is that VNU - the parent of both the systems - could have been behind the campaign. Create a controversy and then go ahead and merge the two systems, with least opposition from reluctant professionals of the two research agencies who want to keep both of them existant.

The third possibility is that the reporter from CNBC stumbled on the story on her own; got clearance from her boss and the others just rode it happily giving vent to their spleen; and capitalised on the controversy.

Whatever, be the origins of L?Affaire TRPs for Sale, it will result in a new sample; better security of the peoplemeters and the list (you mean no one will be able to get a copy of the list of the viewership sample in future??? ) The purging of Intam and Tam. Who knows a merger, possibly. A more streamlined system.

The fact is: not one person from the Mumbai sample interviewed on CNBC agreed that there was any interference or coercion from any of the channels to influence them as they went about watching television daily. So what?s the storm all about?

And if at the end of all the cleaning up and expense - which will finally be borne by the cable and satellite television industry, ad agencies and marketers - would it not be funny if the meters start spewing out similar viewership numbers as are available today? Has anyone given a thought to that.

ANIL WANVARI,
CEO, INDIANTELEVISION.COM