Broadcasters - TAM ROW: TVCs continue despite notice to broadcasters; today crucial

The withdrawal of advertisements on eight TV broadcasting networks did not happen yesterday morning and the channels were still running ads. The advertising agencies and big advertisers had decided to pull out all TVCs from Tuesday onwards but that did not happen. The reason being the 72 hours deadline expired on Tuesday evening. After the broadcasters unsubscribed to TAM data, the latter had started giving out monthly data for these broadcasters instead of weekly data under business compulsion. Advertising agencies and big advertisers objected to this unilateral decision and threatened pulling out ads from these networks if they did not revert back to the weekly system. Many shot letters to their agencies in this connection.

As things stand now, a couple of big advertisers like Parle and Reckitt Benckiser have withdrawn ads across all broadcasters. Said a source from Parle, it makes no sense to look at monthly data for decision making and media planning. They would prefer weekly data. Other advertisers who are likely to follow suit are Hindustan Unilever 9the biggest as spender), Dabur, Procter & Gamble, Marico, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and Godrej Consumer. They too have shot off letter on Friday, July 12. The broadcasters include  STAR India, Multi Screen Media (MSM), Discovery, NDTV, Network18, Viacom 18, BAG, Times Now Network and the ZEE Network.

Advertising industry observers to whom Adgully spoke to say the notice period for withdrawing ads range from 7 to 10 to 14 days and TAM is never a basis for pulling out TVCs. In other words the agreement between the agencies and the broadcasters do not mention TAM as a reason for withdrawing ads. Moreover ads are booked  for telecast period of 4-6 weeks so that advertisers can space out the telecast depending upon the nature of response from a particular region and the target audience.

One expert criticized the broadcasters for opting for monthly ratings data by saying that India is a progressive nation but here instead of daily ratings we are moving away from weekly to monthly data. The monthly viewership ratings was said to be a compromise formula arrived at between the protesting broadcasters and TAM recently. In the current scenario advertisers prefer weekly data for media planning and decision making.

On the other hand a sympathizer of the broadcasters said that they are unnecessarily being penalized. Many advertisers plan for 4-6 weeks and hardly rely on the weekly data.

As viewpoints and counter viewpoints continue, sources tell us that another 22-25 advertisers are ready to pull out TVCs from across industries such as automobiles, telecom, FMCGs and consumer goods. While Discovery network has already reverted back to weekly rating, it remains to be seen whether other broadcasters will also follow suit of play around till the inventories in the notice period are exhausted. Today, Wednesday will be crucial as some outcome is expected. Hence it remains to be seen what happens today. Does the issue escalate or does it get ironed out. Keep watching this space for developments.