TAM DAS industry paper
© TAMMedia Research 2012 October 17, 2012
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I.
Introduction
The advent of digital modes of broadcast reception is not an altogether new
phenomenon. TAM has been reporting data from digital TV homes since the last
five years, possible in large part due to the introduction of TVM5 digital online
Peoplemeters by TAM into India. In 2008, the proportion of digital homes was
sufficient enough for TAM to split the C&S analysis group and report “C&S
Digital” and “C&S Analog” as two separate analysis groups. The industry today
therefore can analyse TAM data by three groups based on mode of reception:
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Non C&S”, “C&S Analog” and “C&S Digital”. As per the January 2012 TAM
Digital Establishment Survey, almost 35% of C&S homes in India (across urban
and rural markets) already receive TV through a digital mode i.e. through a Set
Top Box (STB), with approximately a third coming from urban India.
The latest fillip to the process of digitisation comes from the government’s
Digital Addressable System (DAS) notification. This envisions the mandatory
reception of C&S channels through a digital mode. The switch-over from analog
to digital mode is planned in four phases ending December 31, 2014 with the
first phase covering the municipal/metropolitan areas (MC areas) of Mumbai,
Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. The switch-over deadline for the first phase is
October 31, 2012. After this date, it is illegal to receive C&S channels on a TV set
without a STB in the Phase 1 notified areas.
DAS represents a big change for consumers and businesses. The objective of this
document is to articulate some of the implications of DAS in the way it relates to
the TAM system so as to enable the industry to transition as smoothly as
possible through the switch-over.
To ensure a smooth transition there are a number of technically challenging
activities that TAM will undertake; ensuring calculation of accurate universe
estimates through a series of separate independent surveys, projecting homes’
data to the population correctly etc. All these activities have been designed to
ensure that quality data continues to be reported to the industry.
