MAM
TRAI recommends guidelines for TV ratings agencies
MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is once again showing it means business. It has come out with its final recommendations on what should serve as guidelines to put in place a transparent, credible and reliable television ratings process in India. These recommendations have been made after the consultation paper which was first issued by the authority on 17 April 2013. The consultation paper had then called for comments from various stakeholders after which an open house was held on 1 July.
The problems surrounding the television rating system was raised by the Information & Broadcasting Ministry (MIB) in January 2008. It was then that the authority recommended the adoption of self regulation through the industry led body The Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC).
Based on these discussions with the various stakeholders, the TRAI has come up with its own analysis and recommendations which were made public today.
Amongst the recommendation is that the MIB has to notify the guidelines for regulating television rating agencies based on TRAI‘s recommendation within two months. Any agency wanting to offer TV viewership monitoring or rating services has to perforce get itself registered with the MIB if it fulfills the following guidelines: The rating agency shall be set up and registered as a company under the Companies Act, 1956; any member of the board of directors of the television rating agency should not be in the business of broadcasting/ advertising/advertising agency; the rating agency should have a minimum net worth of Rs 20 crore; the rating agency should also meet the prescribed cross-holdings requirements.
TRAI has said that to keep the ratings process credible, there should be a minimum of 20,000 panel homes which have to be set up within six months of the guidelines being implemented. Thereafter the number of panel homes has to be increased by 10,000 every year until it reaches 50,000.
It has recommended that it be mandatory for the industry to observe a voluntary code of conduct for maintaining secrecy and privacy of panel homes and that data and reports should be made available to all stakeholders in an equitable manner on a paid basis.
Also no single company/ legal entity, either directly or through its associates or inter-connected undertakings, should have substantial equity of 10 per cent or more holding in both rating agencies and broadcasters/advertisers/ advertising agencies.
TRAI says that ratings agencies will be penalised if they fail to follow the guidelines on cross-holding, methodology, secrecy, privacy, audit, public disclosure and reporting requirements. A penalty of Rs one crore will be levied in the first instance; the second instance will lead to the cancellation of registration.
For other guidelines, the penal provisions shall be a graduated financial penalty of Rs 10 lakh to Rs one crore for the first three instances of non-compliance and, for the fourth instance, cancellation of registration.
However, TRAI says an opportunity should be given to each party before invoking any penal provisions. Once guidelines for rating agencies are issued by MIB, these will have to be equally complied by all rating agencies including new entrants.
In keeping with the fact that the existing rating agency (TAM Media) may require some time for complying with the guidelines, the authority has given it six months to allow it to meet the cross-holding and panel size requirements guidelines.
It says that it would like industry to implement these recommendations and to show that it means business it says it will suo motu intervene in the larger public interest if the former does not comply.
Obviously, TRAI is trying its hardest to change the paradigm of TV ratings. Will Indian industry pay heed?
MAM
WPP appoints Guillaume Epstein as its global head of commercial
Publicis veteran to streamline pricing, contracts and client deals globally
LONDON: WPP has created a new global commercial leadership role and appointed Guillaume Epstein to lead it, according to media reports, as the company looks to simplify client deals and strengthen commercial operations.
In his new role as global head of commercial, Epstein is expected to oversee pricing structures, contract frameworks and client negotiations across markets. The move points to WPP’s growing focus on making its commercial approach more streamlined and consistent worldwide.
Epstein joins from Publicis Groupe, where he spent close to four years in senior leadership roles, including global commercial finance director and chief operating officer for Brazil. His work there covered financial strategy, operational efficiency and client profitability across multiple regions.
Prior to that, he held key roles across Asia Pacific within Publicis, including chief commercial officer for Apac and regional client finance director. During this period, he helped build regional hubs, standardise pricing models and manage complex, multi-country client relationships across markets such as Singapore, China and Hong Kong.
He also brings experience from Valtech, adding digital transformation expertise to his commercial skill set.
At Publicis, Epstein played a key role in developing multi-country rate cards, improving financial processes and creating training programmes around negotiation and pricing strategy. His work also focused on unlocking new revenue streams through digital and analytics capabilities.
The newly created role at WPP comes at a time when global agencies are under pressure to offer more transparent, efficient and scalable commercial models to clients.
With Epstein’s appointment, WPP appears to be fine-tuning its commercial engine, aiming to make client partnerships simpler, sharper and more aligned with evolving market needs.
