A plan by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to issue licences and regulate TV ratings companies is likely to be scrapped as its legal subcommittee concluded that it does not have such powers.
The NBTC's legal subcommittee said TV ratings companies should not be regulated by the broadcasting regulator even if they accepted it.
It's likely that the broadcasting committee will cancel its plan to regulate TV ratings firms, as suggested by the subcommittee.
However, the process of recruiting a new TV ratings company by the Media Research Bureau (MRB), a non-profit organisation for media agencies and TV channel operators, is still going on.
Currently, Nielsen Thailand is the only TV ratings company for the broadcasting industry and many broadcasters have complained about its accuracy. They requested the NBTC to take a regulatory role in the TV ratings and measurement system.
Under the planned regulation, the broadcasting committee wanted to issue new licences and regulate TV ratings companies but not provide funding.
"The licensing regime will create market competition among TV ratings companies and the NBTC could regulate them and scrutinise problem cases in the future," said Natee Sukonrat, chairman of the regulator's broadcasting committee.
The NBTC has already drafted the regulation for the TV ratings and measurement system, which had public hearings last July attended by media agencies, digital TV operators and TV ratings companies. However, the regulation's announcement in the Royal Gazette is still pending.
The MRB has set the criterion that the winner of the selection process for the new TV ratings company should comply with the NBTC's rules under the licensing regime. If there is any complaint, the MRB will ask the NBTC to help scrutinise the case.
Currently, the MRB is working with the Institute of Research and Development for Public Enterprises to study the establishment survey, a large face-to-face questionnaire designed to define the characteristics of the population and find potential homes for the installation of rating panels.
The broadcasting industry hopes the new ratings company will help ensure the accuracy of viewership and opinions from TV viewers.
A TV industry source said the current TV ratings agency, Nielsen Thailand, is trying to convince its major client, Unilever Thailand, to stay with it.
Nielsen Thailand has received many complaints from media agencies about its too-small sample size when it did the ratings, failing to reflect the Thai population and accurate viewing behaviour.
In the TV ratings measurement system, the ratings company is chosen by advertisers, who use consumer insight data for product development and advertising.