MAM
TAM to survey digital penetration in 4 metros in November
MUMBAI: TAM Media Research, the only television audience measurement service in India, will conduct a survey in November in the four metros to get an estimate of digital penetration after compulsory digitisation gets implemented on 1 November.
TAM will also conduct a special survey called All India Digital Establishment Survey (DES) across the country in December to confirm the share of digital in total television households.
The survey to be conducted in November is part of the DAS Establishment Survey it started in May in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata to keep track of the progress in switchover to digital delivery of cable television.
In a statement released by TAM Thursday evening, TAM CEO LV Krishnan said, “TAM has been long ready to measure Indian Television Homes’ transition to the Digital World since way back in 2007. We implemented the state of the art, platform neutral, TVM5 Peoplemeter system then and started reporting data in July 2008.”
TAM said it has been able to reflect the change from analogue homes to digital in its panel homes till now. But this change has been gradual and thus, the agency has had breathing space to make the corrections required. Of the total 8,000 homes where TAM has installed its peoplemeters to gather viewership data, 1,500 are in the four metros.
As 1 November inches closer, there is a possibility that there will be a significant spike in the conversion from analogue to digital which TAM would find difficult to accommodate and reflect in its sample over a short period of time, which would then lead to inconsistencies in data. Hence, it accepted the decision of industry bodies Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) to have the ratings suspended for nine weeks till week starting 8 December.
Clarifying further, Krishnan told indiantelevision.com, “The main question is what universe do we project the (ratings) data to? There are going to be some homes that have not shifted to digital by 1 November. Of these, some might shift; some might not while some may even go the terrestrial way.”
This change will take some time to take place. During the stabilisation period, the universe TAM is projecting to will be in a state of flux. There are many factors that may affect the conversion from analogue to digital. Apart from people waiting till the last moment, there is also the question of availability and deployment of digital set top boxes.
Echoing his thoughts, Lodestar UM CEO Shashi Sinha says, “There are two issues. One is the panel (television homes where TAM has installed its peoplemeters). The second is the fluctuation (in data) and viewership. The panel is the basic data but what about the fluctuation in viewership that will happen because of the digital signals?”
MAM
Madison World to launch AI platform M BrAIn for media planning
Agency group invests about $1 million as it shifts to AI driven growth planning.
MUMBAI: If media planning once ran on spreadsheets and gut instinct, the next chapter may run on algorithms and curiosity. Madison World is preparing to roll out the first version of its proprietary artificial intelligence platform Madison M BrAIn in early April, as the independent agency group accelerates its transition toward AI driven planning and product led media services.
The platform, expected to involve an investment of around $1 million, is designed to reshape how the agency approaches strategy by combining internal knowledge, external data sources and advanced AI models into a single intelligence ecosystem.
According to Madison Media, OOH and Hiveminds partner and group CEO Ajit Varghese the initiative forms part of a larger structural rethink within the organisation. “Traditionally agencies built frameworks around media planning and allocation. We are redesigning that structure into what we call a Growth Planning System (GPS),” Varghese said.
The shift reflects a growing belief that effective media strategy must begin earlier in the decision making process. Instead of jumping directly to channel allocation, planners must first decode the market itself identifying consumer barriers, purchase triggers and the core challenges facing a brand.
Once those insights are mapped, agencies can build clearer growth agendas for clients and design media strategies that connect more closely with business outcomes.
To support that approach, Madison has built Madison M BrAIn as what it describes as a human AI cognitive ecosystem. Acting as a central intelligence hub, the platform aggregates proprietary insights alongside external data sources and large language models, enabling planners to access deeper market intelligence before building campaign strategies.
Varghese said one of the core objectives is to democratise knowledge across the organisation. “In the past, this level of understanding was largely available to senior leaders or experienced strategists. With Madison M BrAIn, even a junior planner should be able to access the same intelligence and approach clients with a far more informed perspective,” he said.
The agency has already implemented the new planning philosophy internally and completed three months of testing for the AI platform, with early trials showing encouraging results in terms of learning capability and system performance.
While the first version relied on global large language models, Madison is now developing its own proprietary Small Language Model (SLM) to serve as the core of the M BrAIn ecosystem.
“The SLM will be able to read global LLMs, but the LLMs cannot read the SLM,” Varghese explained. “That ensures all the intelligence we build remains within the Madison ecosystem and strengthens our proprietary knowledge base.”
The first version of Madison M BrAIn is expected to go live in early April, with a more refined version targeted by the end of June. Over time, the platform will integrate additional external data streams and APIs including consumer insight platforms, social listening tools and client datasets.
These integrations are expected to enhance the system’s learning capability and enable it to generate increasingly sophisticated strategic recommendations.
Although the platform is currently being deployed for internal use, Madison sees potential for it to evolve into a licensable product in the future.
“At the moment, our focus is to stabilise and strengthen M BrAIn internally. But over time there is potential for this to become a product that could be licensed externally,” Varghese said.
The AI platform is also part of a wider technology transformation underway at the agency group. Alongside M BrAIn, Madison is building a broader digital infrastructure called the Catalyst operating system, which aims to integrate operational processes, data and product platforms into a unified ecosystem.
This broader technology stack could require an additional $1 million to $1.5 million investment over time, though spending will be phased and reviewed regularly.
“We are evaluating progress every three months and prioritising the most critical capabilities first,” Varghese said.
Madison expects the full AI and operating ecosystem to be fully functional within 12 to 18 months, positioning the agency to combine human strategy with machine intelligence as the advertising industry enters its next data driven phase.
