MAM
Agencies feel need to speed up BARC
MUMBAI: The need for speeding up the existence of a transparent television audience system under the aegis of the broadcasters and the advertising and media agencies is gaining ground after NDTV‘s lawsuit has made allegations against TAM Media, the single TV ratings measurement currency in India.
“BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) needs to probably be expedited. It will not be a supervisory but a governing body. The clients, the broadcasters and the agencies will be represented in that,” said Aegis Media CEO South East Asia Ashish Bhasin.
The shareholding of BARC was announced in March 2012 with the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) holding 60 per cent equity and the balance 40 per cent being equally shared by the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) and Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI). But it has still to become operational and the draft incorporating the memorandum of agreement (MOA) and the Articles of Association (AoA) finally approved and signed.
Several industry professionals from the advertising and media agencies said that a body overseeing TAM was the need of the hour.
A senior official from a leading agency emphasised the need for a body like BARC as TAM has become akin to the Holy Grail or Bible when it comes to TV ratings. “I have always wondered how can you base your decisions on a single ratings agency that is so powerful to decide the buying of over Rs 110 billion of television advertising spend. I have found the peoplemeters and the sample size inadequate and there have been allegations of tampering. It defies rationale under these circumstances if we are not to speed up BARC.”
Another top official from a different agency pointed out that the best way is to review data simultaneously as it gets thrown up so that errors can be kept in check or rectified timely. The anomalies can, thus, be investigated promptly. If there is any mistake, genuine or of malicious intent, it can be set right,” he remarked.
Media agencies do not depend entirely on TAM when they do their buying plans for their clients. “We also look at other factors and along with our internal research and some element of gut feel we decide on how we can best get to the target audience of the brand. Advertisers and media agencies don’t trust the TAM data blindly before putting monies behind the channel,” a media professional said.
Is monopoly of a single ratings currency bad? Bhasin does not think monopoly is the issue. “The issue is if somebody is not doing the job properly or deliberately doing it wrong. That is what has to be monitored and controlled,” he said.
Another senior media executive, however, disagrees. According to him, this may be a good time for other research agencies to offer services compatible to TAM and provide the industry with an alternative.
Bhasin, though, feels that it is a better option to have the industry’s resources pooled in one place and a monitoring body structured.
Most of the media executives agree on one thing: to make BARC operational with much thought and detailing.
Brands
Boeing appoints Barun as head of FP&A for global engineering function
Seasoned finance leader to steer budgets and strategy across global centres
BENGALURU: Boeing’s finance cockpit has a new pilot, and he is no stranger to turbulence or transformation. Boeing has appointed Barun as head of FP&A for global engineering, placing him at the centre of financial strategy for its worldwide engineering and technology operations.
Based in Bengaluru, Barun steps into a role that is as expansive as it is critical. He will serve as the primary finance lead for Boeing’s Engineering and Technology Centers globally, working closely with executive leadership to shape financial decisions, manage complex budgets, and design scalable finance processes that support the company’s growing engineering footprint.
In a note announcing his move Barun said, “I’m excited to share that I’ve joined Boeing Global Engineering. This opportunity is incredibly meaningful to me not just from a professional standpoint, but also for what Boeing represents globally.” He added that he looks forward to contributing to an organisation that continues to shape the future of aerospace and innovation.
Barun’s mandate spans strategic financial leadership, operational oversight, and stakeholder engagement. From directing large-scale budgets and schedules to influencing long-term organisational goals, the role blends financial discipline with business foresight. He will also lead cross-functional teams and partner with finance colleagues worldwide to support engineering programmes across geographies, including India.
The appointment caps a long stint at Juniper Networks, where Barun spent over a decade, most recently as finance senior manager. There, he led FP&A for global product business units and G&A functions, driving budgeting, forecasting, and long-range planning. He also played a key role in enterprise-wide transformation, including spearheading an Oracle to SAP ERP migration and building advanced analytics capabilities using tools such as Tableau and SAP Analytics Cloud.
His earlier career includes finance leadership roles at Sony India Software Centre, Cognizant Technology Solutions, and Mphasis, where he focused on financial planning, governance frameworks, and operational efficiency across global delivery centres.
A chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Barun brings nearly two decades of experience across financial planning, digital transformation, and analytics-led decision making.
His appointment comes at a time when global engineering operations are becoming increasingly complex and distributed, requiring sharper financial oversight and agile planning. With Barun at the helm of FP&A for engineering, Boeing appears to be tightening its financial playbook as it looks to scale innovation with discipline.
