It's now the advertiser's turn to hit back at the broadcasters

It all started just a month ago when broadcasters decided to sever ties with the TV measurement agency, TAM Media Research. In fact the Star India CEO in an interview with Business Today called the rating system 'Nothing short of a scandal'.
 
This is because of an alleged lack of transparency in the rating mechanism, according to him. The broadcasters' fraternity, Star India, Multi Screen Media, Viacom 18 and Zee Entertainment, had even succeeded in arm twisting TAM to switch to a monthly reporting system instead of the original weekly reporting system.
 
Advertisers feel monthly data would hamper monitoring of ad spends. They have threatened to withdraw advertising contracts unless broadcasters revert to the weekly reporting system. "We do agree that TAM's measurement method has loopholes, but that doesn't mean that the broadcaster unilaterally decides to first switch off TAM and then move into a monthly rating system," says Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands.
 
He says that the move has led to anarchy from the agency and marketer's point of view as they don't have benchmarks to decide where to invest.
 
An Edelweiss report says that if there were to be an advertising blackout, broadcasters were bound to lose out on ad revenue in the near term, as ad inventory is perishable. However, it will be interesting to watch who wins the battle.
 
This is not the first time that advertisers/ad agencies are involved in a bitter fight with broadcasters. A month ago, there was a spat between the two parties over net billing as opposed to gross billing. The advertisers/ad agencies relented to the broadcasters' insistence of switching to net billing system.
 
Will the broadcasters succeed this time around? As evidenced, they have until now managed to have the upper hand, be it with TAM or advertising agencies.