MUMBAI: The representativeness of BARC India’s Panel – the cornerstone of its TV Viewership measurement system – has been certified by CESP, a global multi-media body that audits media research. CESP is a joint industry committee that specializes in audience measurement audits and has worked in more than 20 countries. The certification further strengthens BARC India’s credentials of capturing “What India Watches”, basis a truly representative TV panel.

CESP’s certification validates that BARC India in April 2017 has successfully aligned its research design and data collection methodology with the best international practices. BARC India has also received representativeness certification on Broadcast India 2016 - the Establishment Survey which was the basis for the new universe estimation that was rolled out earlier this year, and also forms the basis for ongoing panel home expansion.

The certification has been awarded on the strength of quality benchmarks defined by BARC India Board and Technical Committee. The BARC India representativeness certification was also mapped against “Global Guidelines for Television Audience Measurement” (GGTAM) and CESP best practices based on panel audits conducted in more than 20 countries in the world.

“CESP Scientific Committee fully certifies the representativeness of BARC India panel. Our Scientific Committee was really impressed with the quality of BARC India’s research design and deployment of panel homes. Considering the size of India and challenges for representativeness, the mission was fully achieved,” said Olivier Daufresne, Director of International Projects, CESP.

“It is a proud moment for all of us at BARC India. Panel home selection is the key to true representation and robust TV viewership measurement. It is important to have the right mix of panel homes to be able to then extrapolate the data and report “What India Watches". The certification is a stamp on the great work that our team has been doing,” said Partho Dasgupta, CEO, BARC India.