Indian news broadcaster NDTV has hit back against the defamation threat issued by international advertising and marketing services giant WPP (Wire and Plastic Products), asking TAM (Television Audience Measurement) India’s global parent to first fix its “badly damaged and dishonest [television] ratings system in India,” before making “baseless threats.”
Meanwhile, NDTV’s fellow news channels stepped up the heat on TAM India, demanding that its TV ratings data be suspended until the government commissions an independent, public audit of the system, which is allegedly manipulated and corrupt, according to the lawsuit that NDTV had filed in a New York court last month. However, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) was also indignant on allegations regarding corruption among broadcasters themselves — which are also detailed in the same NDTV lawsuit.
Legal drama
The legal drama gains significance due to the fact that TAM’s ratings determine the flow of advertising money to the tune of more than Rs. 11,000 crore per year — the funds that sustain the entire broadcasting industry, and make or break channels and programmes.
Almost a month after NDTV filed its July 25 suit, accusing TAM of manipulating ratings in return for bribes to its officials and claiming damages of more than $1 billion from TAM and its global parents Nielsen and Kantar — which itself is a subsidiary of the largest advertising firm WPP — its opponents have issued a public response.
In a statement released on Wednesday, WPP termed NDTV’s lawsuit “hypothetical,” claiming that it hadn’t yet been served on any of its companies.
WPP insisted there was no merit in the suit, the New York courts had no jurisdiction, and added that it was “giving active consideration to issuing proceedings against NDTV for defamation and has instructed its lawyers accordingly.”
WPP said TAM India was “proud” of its service and “continues to take stringent measures to protect the panel against repeated attempts at tampering by currently unknown parties, and has recently agreed to a series of additional steps with the industry to remove any question marks on the quality and reliability of TAM data.”
This seemed to refer to TAM’s recent meeting with concerned advertisers, who charted a six-point action plan to plug loopholes in the system, including many measures NDTV had demanded, including the expansion and rotation of sample homes, and a security agency to prevent manipulation.
NDTV shot back on Thursday, asking how the lawsuit could be termed “hypothetical,” given that it is available on the website of the Supreme Court of New York, and that WPP subsidiary Kantar Media Research’s CEO has acknowledged receipt of the complaint.
It asked the WPP to set its own house in order and fix the “dishonest” ratings system.
The News Broadcasters Association has also reiterated NDTV’s concerns, saying TAM’s “skewed” data is affecting broadcasters. “Content and its quality no longer is a creative judgment or product of talent or ability but has been severely compromised with the only aim of gaining viewership ratings,” said the NBA in a letter to Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni on August 10.
It demanded that the Ministry order an independent audit of TAM’s systems and make sure that corrective steps are taken, until which time ratings data should be suspended.
However, despite the evidence in NDTV’s lawsuit that officials of and agents for its rival channels had bribed TAM staff, the NBA insisted that allegations of corruption among broadcasters was “completely misplaced.”
