MIB seeks views from broadcasters on the recommendations of the TV Rating Committee

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has sought comments from TV broadcasters on the recommendations submitted by the Shashi Shekhar Vempati chair committee to review guidelines for TV rating agencies.

The ministry has asked the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF), News Broadcasters and Digital Association (NBDA), and News Broadcasters Federation (NBF) to comment on the 39-page report of January 4, 2021. The deadline for submission of comments has been extended from November 17 to November 30.

According to an industry source, the ministry only holds consultations with key industry bodies such as IBDF, NBDA and NBF. It can seek out views of public stakeholders at a later stage. “Initially, the MIB will only hold consultations with these three bodies. It may consider setting up the report for public consultation. However, that has not yet been decided,” the source said, on condition of anonymity.

As previously reported, the four-member committee formed by the MIB to review guidelines for TV rating agencies in India recommends that provision for Return Path Data (RPD) be made a mandatory option in all future set-top boxes (STBs). ) deployed by Distribution Platform Operators (DPOs), so that RPD becomes a ubiquitous capability on par with encryption, conditional access and other such required STB level capabilities.

The commission has further suggested that the collection of viewer data by DPOs should be governed by privacy standards prescribed by the government / regulator and moreover the sale or sharing of such viewer data by the DPOs with third parties should be regulated by the Television Evaluation Systems Guidelines.

It has asked the MIB to direct BARC India to accelerate the integration of already available RPD data into its assessment framework within a period of 6 months. Furthermore, a joint industry working group with representation of all relevant stakeholders and independent experts can be set up to specify the standards for an industry-wide RPD mandate, to codify privacy protection, to regulate sales / sharing of RPD data in a transparent / accountable manner.

In its 39-page report to the MIB, the commission also recommended the establishment of an industry-wide appeals body to resolve complaints and mediate disputes between stakeholders and rating agencies. It has also recommended that the guidelines should not place barriers to the creation of multiple review agencies and work to ensure that all invisible barriers that have prevented the emergence of multiple review agencies are eliminated.

Furthermore, the committee wants the MIB to set up a dedicated regulatory body to regulate multiple review agencies. The Commission has recommended the creation of a specialized media review supervisor, drawing on SEBI’s experience in arranging credit rating agencies and the experience of the Media Ratings Council in the United States in specifying minimum standards for multiple review agencies and for accreditation and control such rating agencies.

To foster innovation and foster such startups in this space, the Commission has suggested that the government / regulator should examine incentives and policy interventions, including FDI standards in this technology space, so that India emerges as the hub for global innovation in media public measurement and domestic technology development is promoted to promote self-confidence / Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

The Commission also recommended the establishment of a joint research working group with representatives of stakeholders and independent technical experts to develop the same, while specifying ecosystem-wide common notations, definitions, terminologies, metrics, indexes and calculation methods. Such a joint research effort would pave the way for adoption of relevant methods for India, such as stratified sampling with proportional allocation for better representation of the diverse and complex public universe found in India. RPVG Media