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BARC India is changing how TV viewership for news and special interest genres is measured. Starting June 26, 2025, the industry body will stop sharing four-week rolling average data and will instead release weekly ratings. This change, beginning with Week 24 of 2025, is expected to bring more speed and clarity to how the television industry reads audience numbers.
The weekly system is not new, but its return is a big moment, especially for news channels. Many of them have been asking for faster and more real-time data. When BARC resumed reporting news ratings in 2022 after an 18- month break, it used a four-week average format under new reporting rules. While this helped steady the numbers, it did not quite match the fast pace of news content.
Over time, several major news broadcasters such as NDTV, Zee Media, and iTV Network chose to exit BARC’s rating system, pointing to concerns over transparency and the usefulness of delayed data.
Now, with the switch back to weekly numbers, advertisers, agencies and broadcasters expect more accurate and timely insights. The change allows them to make quicker decisions, adjust campaigns faster, and better understand what viewers are watching week by week. For the fast-moving news genre, this could make a big difference. It helps them respond to trends as they happen, not a month later.
Why does the weekly rating mechanism matter?
Industry experts break it down.
Ramsai Panchapakesan, President, Investments and Partnerships at Havas Media, believes this move will be a game-changer for news channels in particular. According to him, weekly unrolled data reporting “brings all television channel viewership reporting to parity.”
Unlike other content genres, he explained, news viewership is tied closely to momentary events and breaking stories. Capturing this real-time viewership allows channels to identify peak viewing times and audience preferences, which in turn enables smarter scheduling and programming decisions.
Panchapakesan added that this immediacy also gives broadcasters the flexibility to adapt content on the fly.
He pointed out that breaking news, which is by nature short-lived but highly topical, can now be better monetized through dynamic data reporting.
“Real-time benchmarking enables dynamic strategies,” he said. “Businesses can stay ahead by reacting faster than competitors.”
However, Panchapakesan tempered expectations regarding changes in pricing models. Since media plans usually rely on viewership data averaged over a minimum number of weeks, often 4 to 13, the move to weekly data may not instantly overhaul pricing.
Another senior media agency executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity, echoed this view.
The executive highlighted how the spontaneous nature of news demands the kind of immediacy weekly ratings provide. “Dynamic reporting enables this responsiveness,” the person said, pointing to editorial teams’ ability to react more quickly to audience preferences and breaking events.
What do advertisers and media agencies think?
From the advertiser side, the reaction was generally positive but measured.
Samir Sethi, Head of Brand Marketing at Policybazaar, supported the switch, saying it will help “establish a stronger relationship between advertising response in each week vis-à-vis the spends, since the attribution would become better.”
While Sethi does not anticipate a major shift in overall media budgets immediately, he believes that improved attribution could lead to smarter budget reallocations over time.
He also stressed that the added granularity “helped make the picture clearer.” Yet he warns of a potential pitfall.
“Volatility of data in certain outlier weeks, influenced by rare or highly topical events, could be misleading if viewed in isolation.”
For advertisers, it will be important to balance weekly insights with longer-term trends to avoid overreacting.
Marketer K Ganapathy Subramaniam believes this could impact the mix but not choice of medium in the short term.
“But we will wait to observe the ratings for a few weeks to evaluate such changes,” he mentioned. Further as per him, when both the mechanisms are to be compared, it is difficult to say which one is better as the media landscape has evolved so much during this period. “More mediums like CTV have made a significant presence during this period to have an effect on media mix.”
Poulomi Roy, Chief Marketing Officer at RSH Global, sees the development as timely.
“The shorter the period of intervention, the more possibility of course correction,” she said, highlighting how today’s marketers need to act quickly. However, Roy cautions that the new system will take time to stabilize and that data accuracy could be a challenge in the initial phase. She also notes that the pressure to turn around decisions faster could strain the existing ecosystem.
Media expert Anil Solanki called the move “a positive and necessary step.’”
“Weekly ratings provide the immediacy and granularity the industry thrives on. Rolling averages served their purpose during a transitional phase, but now, with the market stabilized, real-time visibility is essential,” he said.
Solanki believes this change will enable agencies to offer sharper, more timely insights to clients, supporting faster and smarter decisions.
Brand consultant Nisha Sampath agreed that the sharper data points will benefit advertisers and the wider ecosystem.
“Greater transparency benefits the entire ecosystem,” she said. However, she warned advertisers not to get carried away by short-term trends.
“Chasing short-term fads could backfire. Successful brand-building campaigns are built on steady and long-term association with proven high-quality content,” Sampath explains.
Karan Kumar, Chief Marketing Officer at Hero Realty, took a pragmatic stance.
According to him, weekly ratings “give every platform something more to make noise about.” With more data available, he expects an increase in claims and counterclaims which will need careful scrutiny. “Ratings have never been the only measure in determining ad spends,” Kumar said. “Advertisers have and will continue to layer affinity metrics on top of ratings before making the final call,” he added.
A spokesperson for White Rivers Media called the change “transformative.”
“Weekly reporting is not just a shift in schedule; it is a shift in mindset. The fog of delayed data is clearing, and real-time clarity is coming into focus,” the spokesperson said.
According to the agency, the new data cycle gives media planners the speed they need. Media planners can now respond like traders in a volatile market. This change turns guesswork into precision. Advertisers will gain the flexibility to reallocate budgets or adjust messaging in response to emerging trends.
They also highlighted how weekly ratings will deliver faster insights and quicker decision-making. “Clients want answers. Now they get them. No more old numbers dressed as current facts. This is reporting that matches the pulse of the market. TV has entered the real-time arena. The winners will be those who listen quicker and act faster,” they added.
What lies ahead?
As the industry prepares for this change, the general mood is cautiously optimistic. The return of weekly ratings promises broadcasters, advertisers, and agencies alike faster, clearer, and more flexible audience measurement.
For broadcasters, this means programming decisions can be better informed by current viewer behaviour. Advertisers can expect to attribute their spend more accurately and optimise campaigns with greater agility.
Agencies will be empowered to offer timely and detailed insights that drive smarter media strategies. However, all agree that the transition will require adjustment. The system’s stability will improve over time, and weekly data will need to be interpreted carefully, especially during exceptional news events that can skew shortterm numbers.
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