Measurements rattle the ratings of TV stations

The new ratings measurement system, which became functional in the beginning of this year, has brought changes in the rankings of the main Romanian TV stations. This month, which admittedly hasn't ended yet, the shows broadcasted by some channels lost 30-40% ratings points, compared to the previous months, to other shows from different channels, which gained somewhere between 1 and 2%.

For example, according to data supplied by the Romanian Television, while the Korean series it was broadcasting at the same hour as last year lost about 30% of its audience, (which also happened to the "Teleencyclopedia" show of the state owned television), certain news programs of "Antena 1", "Kanal D" or "Prima TV" have seen their ratings rise by about 30% (which also happened with the movies broadcasted by "Antena 1"). TVR is the first TV channel to react to the situation presented.

Alexandru Lăzescu, the president and CEO of TVR, made the following statement a few days ago, in a press release: "We are surprised at the sudden drops in the ratings of the shows of the Romanian State Television (TVR) in the measurements conducted by < Kantar Media >, just like we are surprised by the inexplicable overnight jumps recorded by other TV stations. Naturally, we have to ask how ratings drops of over 40% in just a few days can be explained, in the case of shows which have a loyal audience. We do not necessarily claim that the previous ratings numbers were accurate and the new ones aren't, but to methodologically accept such a measurement system, its sample and operator changes would have to be predictable, within a narrow band, somewhere around 3-5 percent".

• GfK: The change of the provider could lead to dramatic ratings changes

These discrepancies between the ratings of January 2012 and the last month of 2011 appeared as, starting with January 2012, the new auditor of TV ratings is "Kantar Media Audiences", which will be providing this service between 2012 and 2015.

In the beginning of 2011, "Kantar Media Audiences" was selected to perform these services by the Joint Commission (COMPAR) for the appointment of the sole provider of the National Service for the Measurement of TV Audiences. Between 2008 and 2012, the ratings data for TV stations was provided by GfK Romania based on a contract of about 8 million Euros, according to rumors going around at the time.

Back then, Andi Dumitrescu, the general manager of GfK Romania, said: "I found out from the media that a different company won the call for bids for the national TV ratings measurement. We are surprised at the decision of the ARMA (ed. note: The Romanian Association for Measuring Ratings) to change the provider of this service. The lack of any talks between the national institution for the verification and control of the TV ratings and the current provider of this service represents a unique situation in any of the member countries of the European Union. In any of these countries, the national regulator is interested in the accuracy of the data and in the continuity of the service. The latter ensures data stability, whereas in some situations, replacing the data provider can lead to dramatic rating changes. The officials of the ARMA showed absolutely no interest in the continuity of the service and did not invite us to participate in any discussion on the matter. The technical proposal for this call for bids was based on the expertise which GfK has in countries such as Austria or Germany, which have already gone through the cost of switching to digital. We have proposed a viable, tested solution, at an optimal cost. In the technical offer we have proposed panel stability and continuity and we can't understand the reason of the ARMA to make this change. In such a dynamic context, the change of the supplier involves a high degree of risk for the market players directly affected by the review of their own evolution, as well by the tracking of consistent consumption trends ".

On Friday, Raluca Bob, PR Specialist at GfK Romania, said that the company she represents has not yet formulated an opinion on the new TV ratings measurement system, and said that the TVR also expressed its discontent when GfK took over the provision of those services.

Concerning the old system, Andi Dumitrescu said: "The latest audit, issued in March 2010, is one of the best that GfK had in any of the countries it is present in".

GfK România and "Media Research" have challenged the procedure of the call for bids, claiming that it should have complied with the steps of a public auction and thus be more transparent, but the National Dispute Council rejected those complaints in February 2011.

Another reason why GfK Romania considers it has been placed in an unfavorable position, is the fact that after submitting the technical offer for the call for bids, the COMPAR asked it to submit another one, for a new panel, even though that wasn't specified in the tender book: "Even more, we were also asked for a financial offer, without a technical one. In our opinion the goal of this action was to deliberately force GfK to quote a higher price, which would have placed us at a disadvantage in this process", the company's officials said.

The companies which participated in the call for tenders held in the beginning of 2011 were GfK Romania, "Kantar Media", "Nielsen Company" and "Media Research".

"Kantar Media" is the former TNS, the company which was the ratings data provider before Gfk, in association with AGB. The company is part of "Kantar Group", the market research division of WPP, which acquired the TNS market research firm, in October 2008, in a deal of 2.14 billion Euros.

• TVR filed a notification with the ARMA concerning the discrepancies which appeared following the new ratings measurements

TVR sent an official letter to the ARMA, demanding explanations concerning the discrepancies found in the new ratings numbers. The complaint of the public television is caused by its suspicions concerning the alleged inaccuracy of the TV ratings measurement system in Romania and of the TVR, in particular; troubles concerning the increased confidence in the ability of the managers of the ratings measurement system to ensure complete data security; as well as problems concerning the validity of the peoplemeter based measurement system, in general, as shown in the press release of TVR: "This system has serious difficulty in keeping up with the new changes in the market, such as the extreme fragmentation of audience categories, the shift in consumer habits, the multiplication of the number of TV stations, the access of the public to audio-video content on various platforms and channels".

The representatives of TVR consider that the accuracy of the measurements fundamentally relies on the ability to secure the databases which contain information on the households which have peoplemeters installed: "It is obvious that a preferential knowledge of this data by some of the TV channels whose ratings are being measured could lead to a distortion of the results. Our fears are far from being unfounded. A recent scandal in Turkey, on this matter, has evidenced how ratings measurements were forged using this mechanism. Here is why, both the ARMA, as an organization, as well as the operator need to be more credible in providing their members (the beneficiary TV stations, including TVR) guarantees concerning data security, because any problems appearing in this area will also raise in Romania major question marks concerning the credibility of the measurement system".

According to Alexandru Lăzescu, ARMA provided an unsatisfactory answer to the problems notified by the TVR.

The representatives of the ARMA said: "ARMA did not receive any official press release, of the nature and with the contents of the one which was sent to the media. TVR only requested answers to specific inquiries from the ARMA, and the latter sent to data provider < Kantar Media >, in writing, very specific explanations concerning the differences between the ratings some of the shows of TVR had according to the old measurement system and according to the new one. The meeting of the Board of Directors of ARMA to be held next week (ed. note: this week) will discuss this topic. In our opinion, the ARMA also includes TVR! TVR is an active member of the Board of Directors and of the Technical Committee of the ARMA. The TVR has actively participated in the drafting of the tender book for the selection of the data provider and was one of the members of the Joint Commission which decided on the appointment of the new provider. Going from one panel to a completely new one, just like it happened four years ago, always causes users to make comparisons. The Technical Committee of the ARMA and < Kantar > are analyzing the documents sent by TVR and will respond to this important member of our Association".