GECs
TV measurement service aMap announces all India coverage with 6,000 Peoplemeters
MUMBAI: Two years after launching its television ratings service in the country, Audience Measurement and Analytics (AMA) has announced that aMap, which provides data on overnight viewing, has installed 6,000 meters in India.
In addition to the 28 markets already being measured, aMap is now present in three more markets Jammu, Guwahati and Bihar and Jharkhand.
aMap CEO Tapan Pal says, “Currently, ten (broadcast) clients buy our product. We have also launched a fastrack service for our clients. This reports on viewership patterns during a significant event. For instance around 27 million people across India watched the Semi-Finals of the ICC Champions Trophy.
“While these numbers are lesser than what the India matches got, they are considerably higher than the number of people that previously saw neutral matches. I would say that while our price might be higher than the competition (Tam) it is a question of the value one offers. One can slice and dice information in many ways. For instance one can check out what students watch and if o0ne wants to slice further one can see what an a student who speaks English watches versus what a student who speaks Marathi watches. We thus go beyond basic demographics
“Also our service allows broadcasters and advertisers to constantly stay in touch with the consumer. The resistance from certain quarters to another ratings product will I am sure come down. Already there are another 50 channels who are keen on using us.”
Pal notes that often there are differences in the ratings that aMap throws up versus what Tam shows. For instance the time spent on the niche channels like HBO, Star Movies is higher in aMap’s analysis than what Tam data shows.
One show that delivered hugely divergent ratings on aMap and Tam was the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs finale live event which aired on 28 October. Tam data indicates that L’il Champs delivered for Subhash Chandra’s flagship channel Zee TV a whopping 11.1 TVR, rocketing it to the top of the charts for that week. On the other hand, the aMap rating for the show was just 4.7 without the ad break and 4.1 with the ad break included. The data was generated for C&S 4+ for north, west and east. “We are confident about our numbers,” asserts Pal.
Confident he may be, but such disparities only make the already increasingly complicated job of media consumption analysis that much more difficult.
aMap director Francis Howard said, “We are committed to the Industry in continuing with the most robust and sophisticated system that addresses the needs of the changing mediascape. We are now present all over India. Introduction of the three new markets of Jammu, Guwahati and Bihar and Jharkhand will give path-breaking insights into hitherto unreported markets. aMap ensures that it is large enough to capture the smallest nuances of the market.”
“We proceeded in a deliberate manner in adding peoplemeters given the fact that the distribution landscape is changing. Ideally one would want 20,000 meters in three years. We also have plans in radio which we hope to surprise the industry with,” he asserts.
Of course there is the question of how agencies related to WPP, which co-owns AGB Nielsen Media Research, the parent company of Tam Media, will respond to aMap’s product. aMap MD Raviratan Arora says that while it faces an uphill task in this area, he is confident that firms will accept a product that offers more targeted results. The idea that a monopoly is good in the ratings services industry is a fallacy, Arora argues. After all innovation will not happen unless there is competition, he points out.
He still has to convince the industry on that score though.
GECs
Sahara One reports financial results, notes director exit and business realignment
Muted revenues, steady expenses and strategic adjustments shape company’s current phase
MUMBAI: In a tale where the sands seem to be slipping faster than they can be gathered, Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited has reported another quarter of wafer-thin income and widening losses, even as a boardroom exit adds to the unease.
The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that its board, in a meeting held on April 4, approved its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2025. The numbers paint a stark picture. Total income for the quarter stood at just Rs 0.13 lakh, unchanged sequentially and sharply down from Rs 0.26 lakh a year earlier.
Losses, meanwhile, deepened. The company posted a net loss of Rs 24.16 lakh for the quarter, compared to Rs 18.81 lakh in the June quarter and Rs 39.69 lakh in the same period last year. For the six months ended September 2025, the cumulative loss stood at Rs 39.69 lakh, while the full-year loss for FY25 was reported at Rs 60.72 lakh.
Expenses continued to outweigh income by a wide margin. Total expenses for the quarter came in at Rs 24.30 lakh, led by employee benefit costs of Rs 6.51 lakh and other expenses of Rs 17.78 lakh. Earnings per share remained in the red at Rs (0.11) for the quarter.
The balance sheet reflects a company with significant assets on paper but limited operational momentum. Total assets stood at Rs 23,065.57 lakh as of September 30, 2025, broadly unchanged from March 2025. Equity share capital remained steady at Rs 2,152.50 lakh, while total equity was reported at Rs 18,004.85 lakh.
Cash and cash equivalents saw a modest uptick to Rs 6.75 lakh from Rs 4.68 lakh earlier, supported by a positive operating cash flow of Rs 180.01 lakh for the period.
Yet, beneath these numbers lies a more complex narrative. The company’s auditors flagged their inability to obtain sufficient evidence to form a conclusion on the financial statements, citing lack of access to records. They also raised concerns over the company’s ability to continue as a going concern, pointing to insufficient funds, delayed recoveries, and stalled content investments.
Adding to the governance overhang, the company disclosed that Rana Zia has resigned as whole-time director, effective October 16, 2025, citing other professional commitments. The resignation, noted and accepted by the board, also brings an end to her role across company committees.
Regulatory pressures continue to loom large. The Securities and Exchange Board of India has already initiated penal actions for non-compliance with listing norms, with trading in the company’s shares remaining suspended. There is also a risk of promoter demat accounts being frozen.
Legacy legal issues remain unresolved. A substantial deposit of Rs 694,027.88 thousand linked to the long-running OFCD dispute involving Sahara group entities is still under the purview of the Supreme Court of India. Restrictions on asset disposal continue to weigh on the company’s financial flexibility.
Operationally, challenges persist across multiple fronts. Advances worth Rs 1,92,916 thousand given for film content remain stuck, with delays in project completion and uncertain recoverability. The company’s YouTube channel, despite being operational, has generated no revenue for over three years due to compliance lapses. In a further twist, management has indicated that revenues may have been fraudulently diverted through unauthorised changes to its AdSense account, with a police complaint in the works.
There are also missed revenue opportunities. Television content rights continue to be used by a related party despite the expiry of the licence agreement, with fresh negotiations still underway.
For now, Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited appears caught between legacy disputes and present-day operational hurdles. As losses linger and governance questions mount, the road to recovery looks less like a sprint and more like a slow trudge through shifting sands.
