MAM
MRUC disputes NRS 2005 TV homes figures
MUMBAI: Media Research Users Council (MRUC) has raised questions over the recent findings brought out in the NRS 2005 survey, setting the ground for a divide in the industry on issues relating to the size of the television and cable and satellite (C&S) homes.
NRS ’05 has pegged the total C&S homes at 61 million, indicating an increase of 16.3 million homes during the last two years. “This is nearly the same as new total TV homes and seems very inexplicable,” MRUC says in a note to its clients. Interestingly, the total TV homes, according to NRS data, went up by 16.7 million homes during this period. NRS officials were not available for comment at the time of filing the report.
IRS, conducted by MRUC, estimates the total number of C&S homes to hover around 46-50 million by the end of 2005. “Surprisingly, the NRS ’05 estimate is a million more than the overall installed TV base in India four years ago as compared to Census 2001,” MRUC points out.
The C&S estimations have been impacted in NRS ’05 as a result of an exaggeration in the size of households and TV households in some of the States, MRUC says.
NRS ’05 has put the TV installed base at 108 million homes, indicating a 51 per cent penetration on a base of 213 million total estimated homes. MRUC and its research partner Hansa Research Group find this “a very large number to deal with” as it means 82 per cent more TV homes got added in the last four years (2001-2005).
The IRS ’05 figures are much lower, putting the TV homes at 83 million (as of June 2004) and a penetration of 41 per cent. Growth in the last three years (2001-2004) was at 39 per cent. “Our figures represent a growth of about nine per cent in penetration over Census 2001,” MRUC clarifies to its members. According to Census 2001 estimates, the TV households touched 59.4 million with a 32 per cent penetration.
Though NRS is yet to release recent figures, it estimates the total TV homes to reach 90-94 million by the end of 2005. NRS ’05 has overestimated TV homes by 14-15 million, asserts MRUC.
MRUC points out Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu and Uttranchal as states where projections are higher than expected in NRS ’05. These account for 61 per cent of the total TV households base in NRS ’05.
MUMBAI: In India’s fast-moving payments race, Visa has just swiped in a new leader. The company has named Suresh Sethi as its India country head, marking a key leadership shift as it sharpens its focus on digital payments growth in the market. Sethi steps into the role following his recent exit from Protean eGov Technologies, where he served as chief executive officer. He succeeds Sandeep Ghosh, who has moved on after more than four years at Visa to pursue an external opportunity.
The appointment comes at a time when Visa is doubling down on its expansion strategy across India and the wider region, deepening partnerships and accelerating adoption in an increasingly competitive digital payments ecosystem.
Sethi brings with him a broad, cross-market perspective shaped by decades of experience across corporate banking, retail financial services, mobile money and large-scale government technology initiatives. He began his career at Citigroup, where he spent 14 years working across India, Africa, South America and the United States, focusing on transaction banking services within the corporate bank.
His appointment signals a blend of institutional experience and market familiarity qualities that could prove critical as Visa navigates a landscape where fintech innovation, regulatory evolution and consumer adoption are all accelerating at once.
As digital payments in India continue to scale rapidly, the leadership change underscores a simple reality, in a market where every tap, scan and swipe counts, who leads the charge can matter just as much as the technology itself.
