Television
Barc India gets Dolly Jha as chief of product & research
Mumbai: Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC), the world’s largest Television Audience measurement body, today announced the appointment of Dolly Jha as its chief of product & research.
Jha is a Postgraduate in Management from IRMA and has an experience of close to three decades across KANTAR, ITC Foods & Nielsen. She comes with a rich experience across Consumer Research, Audience Measurement, Media Analytics, ROI Measurement and Innovation Research.
Jha needs absolutely no introduction neither to the BARC Team nor to the industry at large. Prior to joining BARC India, she has been associated with Nielsen for 13 years where she has held multiple leadership roles. Her last role was as the managing director for Nielsen Media – India. At Nielsen, she led large Audience Measurement Mandates for multiple Industry Bodies. She has also steered the launch of various industry-first solutions in the digital Measurement space in India. She has worked extensively with broadcasters, agencies and publishers and strongly believes in an attitude of collaborative team spirit.
Jha on her appointment said, “I am excited to join BARC India as the chief of product & research. BARC today runs the largest Audience Measurement system in the world. With all the experience behind me, I am looking forward to contributing to BARC by evolving the Measurement further to meet the growing needs of stakeholders.”
Welcoming Jha, BARC India CEO Nakul Chopra said, “It is indeed wonderful that Jha will join the BARC Leadership Team. As the chief of product & research – she will expectedly bring immense value to our eco-system, both from the perspective of working back from our output, to improve input quality and, over time in helping build value added services that will benefit all our subscribers. Both these vital functions are new capabilities that we seek to add to BARC – given her vast experience, I cannot think of a leader more suited to this role. In her stint at Nielsen, Jha has already deep exposure and understanding of what BARC does – I am confident that this will augur for an extremely fulfilling partnership. I warmly welcome her and look forward to working closely with her.”
Sports
IPL 19 records 96.8 ad index as advertisers and categories decline: TAM Sports report
Fewer categories and advertisers as tech and FMCG brands reshape IPL ad mix
NEW DELHI: The on-field action remains strong, but advertising activity during the Indian Premier League has shown a slight shift this season. A report from TAM Sports, a division of TAM Media Research, indicates that the first 13 matches of IPL 19 have recorded a marginal decline in commercial volumes compared to the same phase last year.
Indexed ad volumes stood at 96.8, down from 100 in IPL 18. The number of advertising categories fell from over 50 to 40, while the advertiser base reduced from 65 to 45. At the same time, the number of channels broadcasting the tournament declined from 28 to 25.
Mouth Fresheners emerged as the leading category, contributing over 14 per cent of total ad volumes. Ecom-Other Services and Ecom-Wallets followed, maintaining a strong presence during the early part of the tournament.
The technology sector has gained prominence this season. Google ranked as the top advertiser, accounting for over 13 per cent of ad share. The company focused on promoting its Google Search Engine and Google Gemini AI platform. In contrast, categories such as Ecom-Gaming and Cellular Phones-Smart Phones did not feature among the leading segments this year.
TAM Sports analyst Arjun Sharma said the decline in volumes reflects a more focused approach by advertisers, with fewer but more prominent players dominating the space.
The report also identified new entrants, with ten additional categories including Chocolates, Laptops/Notebooks, and Hair Care products. Among companies, Vishnu Packaging and Reliance Consumer Products remained key advertisers, while Havells India and K P Pan Foods continued to feature prominently.
Among brands, Vimal Pan Masala and Kamla Pasand Silver Coated Elaichi recorded high visibility, while Cadburys Dairy Milk Chocolate was among the notable new entrants.
With the tournament still underway, advertising activity may increase in the coming weeks as more brands look to capitalise on IPL viewership.
