BARC to launch new meters to measure premium households

The common notion around premium audiences is that they have abandoned traditional TV for streaming services. This has pushed broadcasters to focus only on mass content for TV. Even traditional audience measurement systems, with their reliance on specific meter placements, often capture data primarily from these mass-market households.

However, the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) is poised to shake things up with a measurement system specifically designed for premium homes.

BARC has designed inexpensive meters that would cost around Rs6000 and measure data for premium homes.

“The way BARC technology was structured, all ratings were individual. Individual means you have to press buttons. The BARC board has decided that this has to change,” said BARC chairman, Shashi Sinha, in an interview with Storyboard18.

“The lacuna was that premium homes were not being measured,” Sinha pointed out.

Back in 2019, BARC had launched PrimaVU to measure premium homes viewership patterns. Through PrimaVU, BARC India also introduced the industry first concept of ‘viewing minutes’ which was basically the sum of all individuals watching an event based on the time spent by them. PrimaVU was a separate product and not part of the currency panel measurement.

However, the new measurement system of premium households is a totally new initiative with a different methodology.

“Once we get going we will measure not only linear TV but also CTV,” said Sinha.

The other area that suffered due to lack of measurement in the category is premium content on TV. This lack of data on premium viewer preferences, according to Sinha, potentially led broadcasters to focus on content for mass audiences, while exploring niche content for premium audiences was completely ignored.

“Broadcasters were not doing content for the premium audience and consequently, that was one of the reasons why OTT (over-the-top) came in,” he added.

BARC’s new solution is targeted at bridging this gap. The BARC board is planning to roll out this new premium home data measurement plan in the next four to six months. The pilot is expected to start with 5000-6000 meters.

BARC has constantly been trying to make TV audience measurement more holistic. They already have close to 55000 home panels after adding 25000 new panel homes to their existing roster.

According to the policy guidelines for television rating agencies in India, the panel size for measurement should be increased by 10,000 every year until it reaches the figure of 50,000. The government also mandates the panel of homes to remain representative of all television households in the country.

With the successful implementation of this new technology along with the planned increase in the number of panel homes can potentially lead to a wholesome measurement and also a shift in content strategy by broadcasters. StoryBoard18