BARC is ready with ad spot monitoring service

The service will provide data on ad spots and promos, similar to TAM's AdEx.

The Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) is ready with its ad spot monitoring service, which will provide data on ad spots and promos, similar to TAM's AdEx.

There have been speculations that the broadcasters don't wish to renew their annual deals with TAM, which for years has been the sole television audience measurement agency in India. The roll-out of BARC's first set of ratings is expected to happen sometime in March-end or April, and if the broadcasters unsubscribe from TAM, the industry will witness a TAM-dark period.

BARC's ad spot monitoring report is expected to give some relief to the industry. According to an industry source, BARC is currently "trying to take a call on its release."

The source adds that BARC will take the decision after consulting its stakeholders - IBF, AAAI and ISA. The ad spot monitoring data, the source says, "is part of a larger service which, in turn, will be released at a later date."

For the record, BARC is a joint industry body set up in India in 2012 with the specific purpose of designing, commissioning, supervising and owning India's Television Audience Measurement System. BARC is a joint venture bringing together the three key stakeholders in television audience measurement - broadcasters, advertisers and advertising & media agencies.