Published on: September 11, 2026
TAM India has applied for a licence to conduct television audience measurement under the new framework introduced by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB), according to media reports citing government officials.
While the application represents an initial formal move towards TAM’s potential return to the television ratings market, industry sources suggest the company is developing a measurement framework that differs significantly from the conventional panel-based model. Return-path data (RPD) collected directly from cable and DTH set-top boxes is expected to form the foundation of the proposed system.
According to a media report quoting an MIB official, TAM’s application covers audience measurement using RPD and is structured to scale through partnerships with distribution platforms. The official also indicated that TAM had demonstrated its preparedness to commence ratings within a quarter of the licence being granted.
The proposed model could introduce a new approach to India’s television measurement landscape, which currently relies on BARC India’s panel-based system involving homes equipped with audience measurement technology, including people meters.
Instead of making people meters the primary source of viewing information, TAM’s proposed architecture is expected to use signals generated through connected set-top boxes across participating cable and DTH networks.
At the heart of TAM India’s proposed system is a shift in the source of television viewing data.
An RPD-led framework can capture viewing signals from set-top boxes operated by participating cable and DTH providers, potentially allowing measurement across a significantly wider base of television households than a conventional panel.
Industry sources indicate that TAM India has been engaging with major multiple system operators (MSOs), cable television operators and DTH platforms to establish the distribution ecosystem required for its RPD-based approach.
The company is also understood to have signed MoUs with leading cable TV MSOs and DTH operators, while discussions with other major distribution platforms are reportedly underway.
TAM is currently believed to be working with three players during the beta phase of the proposed RPD system. The eventual size and composition of the measurement universe will still have to be determined and independently validated before the service can potentially become an industry ratings currency.
The potential scale of RPD data is a key element of TAM’s proposition. By drawing viewing signals from participating distribution networks, the system could access data from a much larger household base across different markets compared with a traditional people-meter panel.
A wider data pool could potentially address some of the challenges inherent in panel-based measurement, where a representative sample of households must be recruited and maintained before their behaviour can be extrapolated to the broader population.
RPD offers an alternative route by providing access to viewing signals from a substantially larger number of television households. However, its effectiveness as an audience currency would depend on factors including platform participation, data quality, geographic coverage, privacy protections, validation and the methodology used to convert raw viewing information into measurable audience data.
TAM India’s proposed architecture is also understood to incorporate cross-screen measurement, rather than treating it as a future addition.
The planned proposition is expected to cover television and connected television while providing de-duplicated cross-screen measurement. This would allow audiences reached through linear TV and CTV to be assessed without simply combining the two audience figures.
The development comes as viewing increasingly spans traditional television and connected devices. Advertisers and agencies are seeking measurement frameworks that can show individual-screen reach as well as incremental reach, frequency and audience overlap when campaigns operate across TV and CTV.
TAM’s RPD infrastructure could provide the television-side data for such a proposition, while the company’s existing CTV partnerships could support measurement on connected screens.
In June, TAM Media Research partnered with VTION to introduce CTV Ad Pulse, combining TAM’s advertising monitoring capabilities with VTION’s connected-TV audience measurement. The offering is designed to link advertising exposure with CTV viewing behaviour while assessing audience profiles, reach, frequency and campaign delivery across markets.
VTION uses passive, consent-based measurement through an opted-in panel of more than 100,000 smartphones and has extended the methodology to connected television. The partnership provides TAM with an established framework for connecting television and digital-screen behaviour, potentially complementing its broader RPD-based measurement plans.
As a result, TAM’s proposed architecture appears positioned as more than an alternative television ratings system. It could evolve into a data-driven, de-duplicated cross-screen measurement framework spanning TV and CTV.
TAM’s proposed RPD approach also draws on its engagement with television distribution platforms.
Following the government’s first consultation paper on the revised ratings framework in July 2025, TAM was reportedly exploring opportunities to use data from distribution platform operators for audience measurement.
Distribution platforms have access to substantial volumes of viewing information generated through connected set-top boxes and return-path systems. Rather than rebuilding television measurement around a new network of people meters, TAM’s approach is understood to involve leveraging this existing infrastructure alongside its own measurement, processing and analytics capabilities.
Industry sources also noted that TAM has been providing GTM services to media owners, but clarified that these services and the related data should not be treated as the formal television ratings currency for which the company is now seeking regulatory approval.
The company’s agreements with MSOs and DTH operators, including the reported MoUs and ongoing beta activity, are understood to form part of its preparations for the RPD-based framework.
Despite the groundwork undertaken by TAM, the company remains at an early stage of the formal regulatory process.
TAM India has submitted its application, and the proposed measurement system will still require regulatory approval before moving towards wider implementation and commercial deployment.
The beta programme involving three players and the agreements with distribution platforms indicate the data ecosystem TAM has been developing. However, several elements—including the final household universe, platform coverage, market representation, measurement methodology and independent validation—will need to be established before the system can potentially operate as an industry ratings currency.
Media reports citing an MIB official indicate that TAM expects to be ready to begin ratings within a quarter of receiving the licence.
If that timeline materialises, India could see a new approach to television audience measurement built around the scale of set-top-box data and connected-TV measurement, with cross-screen audiences measured on a de-duplicated basis.
For broadcasters, advertisers and agencies, the potential impact could go beyond the entry of another ratings provider. TAM’s proposed model could signal a broader move towards using extensive data generated within the television distribution ecosystem to assess reach, frequency, audience composition and cross-screen viewing, potentially influencing how television and CTV audiences are measured and traded in India.
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