TAM ( Television Audience Measurement ) data has been in use for the last 15 years for assessing TV viewership. Towards the end of April , 2015 , TV and advertising industry have switched to a new system with Broadcasting Audience Research Council ( BARC ) releasing the first data. BARC data release is joint venture between the TV and advertising industry. The base for the data is the new consumer classification system ( NCCS ). It is the new SEC system ( socio-economic classification ).

The first data release by BARC includes 1 lac plus C & S markets, corresponding to a sample of 10,760 householders. They propose to sample 12000 householders using  a stratified random sampling. The sample will go up to 20,000 reporting homes.

They are studying 300 channels, and the technology used is state -of-the-art.

When BARC was originally conceived on 2008, it was to be a joint venture with the Indian Broadcasting Foundation and the Indian Society for Advertisers (ISA) where both had stakes in 60:40 ratio, and an initial investment of Rs 30 crore.

TAM Media Research released its data just after the BARC data was released.Though the viewership estimates of both these outfits are more or less the same, the ranking of channels in some categories differ. However, a large number of users (broadcasters and advertising agencies) have unsubscribed from TAM’s report. It is felt that there is enough room for both to co-exist. Some clients do buy data from both. TAM claims that it provides individual-level data with demographic sets.BARC uses a new system — NCCS. TAM has a legacy of 17 years and that gives them a perspective.