New Delhi: The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) on Thursday urged Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni to order an independent audit of the systems of TAM Media Research, the agency that provides television ratings service.

In a letter to Soni, the NBA has said the audit should be conducted by a reputed third-party within a certain time-frame to evaluate and measure the TAM systems. The audit report should be made public.

The letter follows questions being raised about TAM ratings following a case filed by the New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) in New York, against TAM and its parents the Nielsen group and the Kantar Group.

The NBA has also sought a direction to TAM to suspend reporting of its ratings data until the audit is completed.

The NBA has urged Soni to take "efficient" steps to correct deficiencies in the system and to help build a robust, transparent and dependable ratings system. The ministry should continue to engage and work together on this issue and give the industry and all its stakeholders - broadcasters, advertisers, distribution companies - the confidence to be able to consume data derived from such system.

"We believe these measures and initiatives from the Government will go a long way in addressing this long pending concern and we offer you our complete support in this journey," the NBA has said.

The NBA drew attention to the "Code of Practice in relation to Measurement Based Studies" adopted by it and adhered to by its member broadcasters. The Code was formulated and approved so that the use of measurement based studies by member broadcasters is carried out in line with highest ethical commercial practices.

"As you are aware TAM has been reporting viewership data to the industry despite serious concerns over their systems and methodology of measuring TV audiences. Data continues to be skewed and is seriously affecting broadcasters and their business."

"While Indian Broadcasting Foundation was instrumental in the formation of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), the responsibility of implementing BARC will see the light of the day only if the ISA and the AAAI jointly take serious efforts to launch it in the immediate future. Content and its quality no longer is a creative judgment or product of talent or ability but has been severely compromised with the sole aim of gaining viewership ratings," the letter said.