NBP 2024: TRAI Proposes New Guidelines For TV, Radio, OTT

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued recommendations for the National Broadcasting Policy 2024 on June 20. NBP 2024 outlines the vision, mission, goals and strategies for the planned development and growth of the broadcasting sector with new and emerging technologies.

The Authority believes that a transparent, credible and technologically advanced audience measurement system is crucial for all stakeholders. TRAI has recommended establishing such a system for television, radio and OTT broadcasting services.

An accurate measurement system benefits broadcasters by optimising programming and helps advertisers with granular insights into viewer demographics and preferences, allowing for more precise campaign tailoring and improved ROI.

TV Rating Agencies

The policy guidelines for television rating agencies include provisions for panel size - a minimum of 20,000 within six months of the guidelines taking effect, increasing by 10,000 annually until reaching 50,000. The panel must represent all television households in the country.

In its recommendations dated April 28, 2020, TRAI advised increasing the sample size from 44,000 to 60,000 by the end of 2020 and to 100,000 by the end of 2022 using existing technology. However, BARC India currently operates with only 55,000 households in its panel. A smaller panel size limits data analysis whereas a larger panel size enhances system robustness and measurement ratings' value.

The Authority believes expanding the panel size and adopting advanced technologies is crucial for ensuring a more credible audience measurement system.

The introduction of multiple agencies for audience measurement can enhance service quality, reduce costs and deter rating manipulation. Competition promotes accuracy and credibility, making manipulation more detectable. Countries like Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea have two audience measurement agencies each. To support multiple agencies, the government should proactively offer subsidies and schemes, encouraging investment in advanced technologies and transparent processes. This support will foster healthy competition and improve the accuracy of TV audience measurement in India.

The Authority endorses Return Path Data (RPD) as a transformative tool for the audience measurement. RPD collects viewership data directly from set-top boxes, smart TVs and other devices, offering granular insights into viewer preferences and real-time behaviour. It allows broadcasters and advertisers to quickly adjust strategies to stay relevant. TRAI's 2020 recommendations advised mandating STBs capable of transferring viewership data to support RPD technology.

Furthermore, the Authority advocates for a comprehensive methodology for radio audience measurement in India.

OTT Space

OTT broadcasting service providers have become major players in the media landscape, however, their viewership data remains opaque. The Authority recommends establishing a standardised framework to ensure transparency, requiring OTT platforms to disclose metrics such as active users, time spent per user and popular content. This transparency would benefit advertisers by enabling informed decisions, understanding consumption patterns, identifying trends and assessing content impact. A disclosure framework would address inconsistencies in viewership details and promote fair competition.

Recommendations

To establish a transparent and credible audience measurement and rating system for television, radio and OTT broadcasting services, TRAI has recommended the following:

Develop a technologically advanced television audience measurement system to accurately reflect viewer preferences and behaviour by revamping the existing system, expanding the sample size, encouraging multiple rating agencies to foster competition, and adopting Return Path Data (RPD) and other latest technologies.

Establish a policy framework for conducting radio audience measurement in India.

Creating a framework for disclosure of viewership data by OTT broadcasting service providers in a transparent manner for audience measurements.