Zee News, after a year long interlude, is finally back on the Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC). Zee News resumed service on September 18.
It is not just Zee News that resumed, Zee Bharat too made a comeback on BARC. Data released yesterday was the first time that Zee showed numbers since September 2022.
As per reports, industry insiders suggest that additional prominent channels, such as NDTV and News X, which withdrew from the rating system last year, are expected to rejoin by the end of this year.
This highlights the importance of ratings and how channels are dependent on it for business.
In a past interaction with Storyboard18, Amol Dighe is CEO, Investments and Business Development at one homegrown media investments company Madison Media had said it always helps to have the measurement mechanism for decision making.
“Ratings form the basis on which decisions on channel selection and spends are made. However, factors like affinity and reach cannot be ignored,” he had said.
Essel Group’s Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL) had exited the BARC service subscription, citing data issues.
Zee news channels reportedly faced advertising losses after leaving BARC, with advertisers hesitant due to the inability to audit viewership performance.
In September 2022, ZMCL withdrew from the TV audience measurement system, citing landing page concerns and urging corrective measures from BARC India. The broadcaster insisted that landing page data should not influence final viewership, advocating for a 2-minute duration for counting viewership.