Advertisers & TV Broadcasters grapple to get a resolution

MUMBAI: It was a day which kept most media hacks on their feet: a day when we all expected some big news to break - that the broadcasters vs advertisers feud had been resolved. But through the day, despite calls to all our sources, very little was forthcoming.

However, a short while ago we got a breakthrough. One of our sources called up and told us about the gist of the discussions. ?There were four points that were put up,? he said. They are:

* Monthly reporting of channel viewership vs weekly reporting

* Viewership in absolute numbers vs percentage share

* Exclusion of niche channels such as Star World from reporting totally.

* Exclusion of news channels from reporting totally or only reporting them on a monthly basis.

The idea was that the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) and the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) speak to each other and come up with what is agreeable to all of them ? and would be agreeable to broadcasters ? on the above issues. Which they did till post lunch.

Simultaneously, broadcasters were supposed to congregate and agree to what permutations and combinations would be OK with them on the above issues.

Which again they did.

By evening the three parties were supposed to speak to each other with the ISA and AAAI presenting their proposals to the broadcasters and vice-versa. If all things worked out, a framework would then be drawn up to roll out the agreement to industry and to media.

Says a senior broadcasting professional: "All I can confirm is that a lot of talk is happening between the parties involved. Things are beginning to happen but it is still at a very sensitive stage. The negotiation will take some time to take shape. So, we need to be patient and let the parties talk."

Adds Set Max EVP and business head Neeraj Vyas, "A lot of discussions are taking place on the issue. Even as we speak, there are calls being made and in the next 48 hours or so there will be sanity. Everybody has to coexist. There will be a consensus. We depend on them and they depend on us. TV is an important medium for most brands. Everybody understands that. We play a big role in the way their products move. So I am sure there will be a consensus between the two bodies."

"You will see a resolution soon," agrees Multiscreen Media COO NP Singh. But he is not willing to commit on the timeframe.

Industry sources dismissed reports in a leading financial daily that broadcasters had agreed to go back to weekly ratings. "There is still some ground to be covered," they said. "The publication jumped the gun."

This was at the time of writing at 7:25 pm on 17 July 2013.