RS shuns MAAT's new TV rating scheme
RS will not join the Media Agency Association of Thailand's new TV rating scheme, as it believes costs will be higher than with Nielsen's offer.
Pornpan Techarungchaikul, the chief operating officer, said yesterday the decision by the board’s committee was based on an internal study of the project in detail.
MAAT plans establish a TV audience measurement service to be overseen by the Media Research Bureau.
The budget for this project is significantly higher than what the company currently uses, she said.
The rate is not fixed, varying with the number of participants, which makes the budget hard to manage.
Participants will also have to shoulder initial costs for at least a year before the first rating results are released.
The contract is for five years, which is considered too long a commitment.
Although the contract says it can be terminated before that, the company would have to shoulder the cost for the remaining period.
The company said the project was structured in such a way that those who benefit from the ratings will own and manage the information.
The chosen rating agency will act as only a service provider.
Potential conflicts
There are potential problems and conflicts if the ratings come out differently from what was expected. The structure of the project will make it very difficult to find solutions that can satisfy every member.
The company knows that Nielsen Rating Agency confirmed that it would keep expanding its sample size by 3,000 households by 2017. Statistically, this can further improve ratings accuracy.
The current 2,200 household sample size is also acceptable, considering the homogenous demographics of Thailand.
The media research firm has also confirmed that it would provide a total audience measurement service with multi-screen ratings next year.
It has already tested this in big markets and has results to confirm the effectiveness of its new method.
