Well, TV audience measurement numbers and the process of collating such data are under fire in many parts of the world, the US and India included.

In the US, for instance, information, data and market measurement firm Nielsen’s chief executive defended the company last week, as the ratings behemoth comes under renewed fire from the TV industry and faces questions about the accuracy of a system through which at least $60 billion of advertising is bought and sold a year.

“We haven’t been perfect,” CEO David Kenny wrote in a letter to the industry, “We also understand that we need to move faster in advancing our measurement because the audience itself is moving faster.”

Nielsen is facing escalating criticism from its TV industry clients, many of which say it has insufficiently captured consumers’ shift from traditional TV to streaming. Nielsen measures TV audiences through a sample set of panelists who use special devices in their homes, a Reuters report stated.

TV ratings are the backbone of the industry’s business model, enabling advertisers to learn how many people are watching their ads and helping networks set the price for those slots.

This year advertisers are expected to spend almost $60 billion on TV ads, according to forecaster Zenith, increasing to $63 million next year, the Reuters report added.

In April, the trade group representing the major television networks in the US said Nielsen undercounted TV viewers during the pandemic when the company’s technicians were not able to get into panelists’ homes to fix devices. That charge was later confirmed by the Media Ratings Council, which enforces measurement standards in media.

The Media Rating Council is a United States-based nonprofit organization that manages accreditation for media research and rating purposes.

On September 1, the council announced it was suspending Nielsen’s accreditation, a move that does not immediately affect Nielsen’s business, but hurts its credibility.

At least one media company is publicly seeking an alternative to relying solely on Nielsen.

Comcast Corp-owned NBCUniversal recently announced it is developing its own audience measurement system and is evaluating proposals from more than 80 companies, including Nielsen, to help “modernize the industry’s approach.”

Back home, the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India, too has come under scrutiny over unproven allegations of data manipulations.

Here too, an industry body of TV news channels, the News Broadcasters Association and some of its former members, had alleged manipulations, which had hit the credibility of BARC India that’s an industry body jointly owned by trade organisations representing the broadcasters, ad agencies and advertisers.

Recently, BARC India got itself a new CEO in Nakul Chopra after Sunil Lulla, who was attempting to clean up the system, left in about 18 months after being at the helm of the ratings body.