MUMBAI: In what can be considered as a key new development, Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC) will now report viewership from pay and free-to-air (FTA) platforms separately. According to sources, the BARC board in its meeting on Thursday ratified the technical committee's proposal for the same.

BARC provides several cuts for its urban viewership, which tends to be heterogeneous in nature. Reporting free platforms separately can be regarded as the first step in breaking up rural viewership, which is more homogeneous.

BARC already provides separate urban and rural viewership of some key genres like Hindi GEC and news on its website. Now with pay/FTA reporting, the general public will get a more clear picture of leadership positions of channels in these two markets which have become more distinct after TRAI's tariff order implementation.

With DD Free Dish flourishing, FTA viewership is now a sizable chunk. BARC's move to segregate pay and FTA channels is a positive one, and is bound to be welcomed by the industry, in particular, broadcasters.  

The new pay/FTA reporting format for viewership on the BARC website and in its BMW software could be in the offing as early as week 27.

Additionally, Indiantelevision.com has also been told by a broadcaster source that the much-debated landing page issue wasn't taken up for discussion by the board.