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IRS held in abeyance till 31 March, 2014
MUMBAI: The findings of the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2013 has been temporarily suspended. It was decided today when the Readership Studies Council of India (RSCI) and Media Research Users Council (MRUC) met to discuss the way forward for the IRS 2013 with all its stakeholders.
The IRS will be held in abeyance until 31 March, 2014, says the release issued by MRUC.
A process for re-validation of the study is being developed and shall be finalised by 24 February, 2014. The re-validation process will be completed by 31 March, 2014. Observations and recommendations arising from this process will be presented to RSCI by early April 2014. Once adopted, the recommendations will be formally incorporated into the future architecture of the IRS.
All subscribers and members will be immediately contacted by RSCI, MRUC and ABC to hold off usage of the study until the re-validation process is completed.
The move has come after 18 leading news publishers had questioned the findings of the survey earlier in the month.
MAM
Sameer Nair shares heartfelt note as he exits Applause Entertainment
After nine years building the streamer’s content engine, one of India’s best-known TV men is moving on
MUMBAI: Sameer Nair is out. The chief executive of Applause Entertainment, the content studio backed by Kumar Mangalam Birla’s media empire, has announced his departure after nearly nine years at the helm, closing the chapter on one of Indian entertainment’s more quietly consequential careers.
Nair, who built Applause from the ground up in its current avatar, oversaw a slate that spanned Indian originals and international adaptations, threading together a hub-and-spoke business model that partnered with streaming platforms, broadcasters and production houses alike. The results were uneven, as they always are in content, but the ambition was not.
In a post on LinkedIn, Nair was generous to his outgoing patron. He thanked Birla for being an “inspirational boss and a great patron of the arts,” and signed off with a cheerful “Au Revoir” and a promise to remain Applause’s biggest cheerleader. Whether that sentiment survives the next chapter remains to be seen.
No successor has been named. Applause Entertainment did not immediately comment.
Nair built the machine. Now someone else has to run it — and in a streaming market that is simultaneously consolidating and convulsing, that is no small ask.
