MAM
TAM to release news channels’ data from 9 January
MUMBAI: Viewership data for individual news channels from 7 October 2012 will be available on 9 January when TAM Media Research, the television ratings service provider, begins releasing ratings data as it used to before digitisation in the four metros.
The decision was made Monday as the industry bodies – Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) and the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) – came to an agreement on this. Earlier, as reported in Indiantelevision.com, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) had agreed for a release of TAM data on viewership of their individual channels for the suspended period from 7 October on 9 January.
Meanwhile, TAM today released data for weeks 41-50 but without individual ratings for news channels. The news genre viewership data was clubbed with the ‘Others‘ category, which includes genres like shopping and religious.
TAM will release data for week 51 on 27 December and for week 52 on 3 January, again without ratings for individual news channels. The news genre will continue to come under the ‘Others‘ category till 9 October.
TAM had suspended data release from 7 October as was agreed by IBF, AAAI and ISA, as digitisation was under way in the metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkatta and Chennai.
TAM had to delay release of ratings data for the suspended period on 19 December on a request from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and the NBA, in concurrence with IBF, AAAI and ISA. NBA wanted temporary suppression of viewership data for individual news channels.
The decision by TAM to release ratings for individual news channels on 9 January is in accordance with the decision of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) on Friday.
TAM said the suppression of ratings data on news channels “is purely a temporary request from the industry.” The retrospective data for the period (weeks 41-52), for all the news channels, will be de-suppressed and released normally (individually) on 9 January with the data release of week 1 of the year 2013.
TAM has released data for weeks 41-52 for digital homes in the three cities of Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata, where digitisation has nearly happened. Chennai, which was the fourth city mandated to have gone digital from 1 November, is not included. Digitisation in Chennai, according to a TAM survey, is stuck at around 26 per cent, with the Madras High Court hearing a petition by cable operators against digitisation.
Brands
Uidai partners with Google to help users locate Aadhaar centres
Verified Aadhaar centres to appear on Maps with services and access info
MUMBAI: Finding an Aadhaar centre may soon be as easy as finding your favourite café. In a move aimed at making public services more accessible, the Unique Identification Authority of India has partnered with Google to display authorised Aadhaar centres on Google Maps. The feature, expected to roll out in the coming months, will allow residents to locate verified centres quickly and confidently.
More than 60,000 Aadhaar centres, including state of the art Aadhaar Seva Kendras, will be mapped. When users search on Google Maps, they will be directed to authorised facilities rather than unverified listings, helping curb misinformation and confusion.
The listings will do more than drop a pin. Users will be able to see the nature of services offered at each centre, whether it is adult enrolment, child enrolment, or limited to address and mobile number updates. Details such as operating hours, parking availability and divyang friendly infrastructure will also be shown wherever applicable.
Uidai CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar, said the collaboration is part of the authority’s continued effort to improve ease of living for Aadhaar holders by making authorised centres simpler and faster to navigate.
The partnership will deepen in its next phase, with Uidai using Google Business Profile to manage information and respond directly to public feedback. Looking ahead, the two organisations are also exploring the option of enabling appointment bookings through the Google Maps interface, potentially allowing residents to plan their visits with greater efficiency.
Google India country head, strategic partnerships Roli Agarwal, said integrating verified Aadhaar centres would help millions access trusted services with confidence, bringing essential government infrastructure closer to the people who need it most.
If all goes to plan, a routine Aadhaar update may soon begin not with a queue, but with a search bar.
