Before explaining the issue I should divulge upon the background of the issue so everyone can at least understand what this TRP system is and how it is affecting our channels.
Ok, first of all let’s go back to where it all started. PTV. Pakistan’s first television channel. PTV was a government entity and it was a non commercial organization. PTV had three sources of income. First the government grants that it regularly received. Secondly it used to have a license fee (in those days every one having a TV had to pay a mandatory fee that was then paid by the government to PTV). Third came the advertisements. In those days since PTV was the only TV channel available therefore the advertisers had no choice but to advertise on PTV .These demographics resulted in complex organization at PTV. Where PTV was not supposed to do programmes to earn money. Another fact which influenced things was that all PTV producers were government employees and they received their salaries on monthly basis therefore monetary concerns were the last thing in their list of things to consider when designing a project. The only thing binding their hand was a strict censor policy by government but it was more prominent in news and normally dramas were left to their own.
Now comes the second phase and private channels enter the scene. First and foremost thing which happened was that the primary earning of channels came from advertisements and advertisements alone. Secondly the channels limited the in-house productions to a very meager value and started outsourcing their programmes to private production houses. These production houses were a strictly business organization. Whose only concerns were to sell the drama? The channels wanted to buy the drama. The result was that advertisers had multiple choices and by common sense they preferred the channel which is having the most viewer ship to advertise their products. Now this meant the channels obviously wanted to have themselves declared with most viewing so they can get the most business from the advertisers. Power of decision slowly but surely creeped in to the hands of advertisers who started making decisions. As I once heard rahat kazmi say” abb Talo cooking oil wala decide karta hai kai dramaey main hero kon ho gaa aur heroen kon”
The question was how to determine the viewership of a channel. so entered TRPs
TRP is based on a device known as people meter. The rating agency installs a sample space of people meters in various houses which have been categorized in to various categories based on age, gender, financial position and social status. The viewing record of that sample space is collected and what you see being boasted off in television channels websites is the averages based on those people meters.The inherent flaws of system are as evident as sunlight. The sample space is merely a few hundred or thousands how it can be reflective of millions of viewers. Then Pakistan is a country where culture changes significantly with each are. Rural areas and urban areas follow different patterns of TV liking. The majority of population resides in rural areas and TRPs are based in urban areas. Then again like all Pakistan institution these rating agencies are not above bribery and corruption.
Actually now the media in Pakistan is being governed by a complex maze of media buying houses, advertising agencies and TV channels. This is just the first installment in the next few I will unravel more mysteries of this complex web and how it is working.
To be Continued……………..
Written By Faria
