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NATIONAL TV RATINGS SELF-SUSTAINABILE AFTER ONLY SIX MONTHS
In January of 2006, one of the most recognized and respected research organizations, AGB Nielsen, made a decision to invest $400,000 USD in the USAID funded CMSPA television ratings project. AGB’s contribution allowed the project to fully fund the installation of a peoplemeter system in the Yerevan market. The ratings initiatives, supported by IREX/CMPSA and funded by USAID injected an additional $400,000 dollars of independent investment into the program this past June when AGB Nielsen moved to expand the Yerevan peoplemeter system nationwide.
CMSPA’s groundwork, which included a one year pilot Yerevan based diary ratings project, developed an advertising market that grew from three million USD to an estimated thirty million USD and created a fertile operating environment that AGB found attractive. Program nuances such as Data certification and repeated assessments by KPMG Moscow fostered increased advertiser confidence established ratings as a common currency and facilitated the adoption of audience based management. AGB’s move to expand the system to provide nationwide research data at its own expense represents the formation of a truly independent and self sustainable television ratings system for Armenia. In addition AGB Nielsen, as a global alliance partner and a leader in TV ratings research around the world, has helped provide Armenia with the most advanced state of the art technology nationwide.
Audience-based lessons learned in the Yerevan media market have been a driving force for the future development of the entire Armenian advertising market and has encouraged the expansion of the television ratings project form Yerevan to the regions of Armenia. While the Yerevan Diary TV Ratings Project represented a major advancement for the television media sector in terms of both sophistication and business practices, it is only the first step in a much broader, long-term program that seeks to encompass the entire country and empower developmental elements in ancillary sectors such as international advertisers and advertising agencies.
For the first time media outlets have access to independent and credible information about their audience. In addition to being a driving economic tool the Television Ratings and Monitoring System also insures that broadcasters better serve the public and run their business more efficiently. At the same time advertising agencies are able to offer clients better media planning and more effective advertising placement. The independent certification of the ratings methodology’s compliance with international standards and the introduction of more sophisticated peoplemeters in early 2006 have, further strengthened the market, increased advertiser confidence and will perpetuate the current growth trend.
Watchdogs in Action
There is a popular saying “Ignorance of the law is no excuse”. Whether Armenian television broadcasters were ignorant of the law or simply chose to be ignorant is not known. But it is known that during January-March 2006 USAID’s Core Media Support Project’s (CMSPA) monitoring unit detected a dramatic increase – almost as high as 52 times of the previous rate –in illegal advertising activity.
In its watchdog capacity, the most immediate concern for CMSPA was the violation of Armenian law by television companies regarding forbidden tobacco advertising. Moreover, CMSPA found a significant increase in strong alcoholic beverage advertisements.
In an attempt to determine the broadcasters’ awareness of the illegality of their activity and to encourage adherence to the rule of law, CMSPA sent letters to the television outlets stating that the program documented the various abuses of the Armenian law on advertising. As a result, tobacco television advertisements went down to zero, and strong alcoholic beverage ads rolled back to previous levels.
The television monitoring project continues to provide important information to the media sector, identifying market revenue, advertising volume and content as well as political and social advertisements. While the main intended purpose of the monitoring program is to serve broadcasters, advertising agencies and advertisers by ensuring planned broadcasting of ads, information is also readily available for use by government agencies and NGO’s to serve the public good.
The media monitoring program will continue to record television broadcast data 24 hours a day 7 days a week. And broadcasters and enforcement agencies are on notice that the program will maintain a vigilant eye for future violations.
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