New company to measure TV ratings
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Friday, October 17
Television ratings might soon be measured by a new actor on the market. The presentation of a new company was held on October 15. Sociologist Merab Pachulia and editor of Kviris Palitra newspaper Giorgi Tevdorashvili will intriduce and fulfill the project. A measuring process will be carried out based on GORBI.
A Company entitled as TRI Media Intelligence will emerge starting November 2015. The initiators state that they have no sponsors and initially all the activities will be financed through their own resources.
“We are not looking for donors, the industry should cover the service expenses in the end,” Pachulia says.
Media organizations do not know yet what conditions will be suggested by the company and how much they will have to pay for the service. However, some media organizations are happy with the fact that there will no longer be only one ratings research company in the country-TVMR. Impartiality of the latter, according to them, has raised serious questions.
Head of Maestro Ilia Kikabidze states that there are still many unknowns with regard to this new project.
“If they meet all the preconditions we will collaborate with them,” Kikabidze says, adding that the transparency of the research methodology and the price of the contracts are important as well.
Nino Jangirashvili, Director of Kavkasia TV states that the appearance of the new company on the market might cause a serious mess.
“If the process is not transparent, some media organizations will support one company, while others will lend their support to the other, resulting in serious controversy,” Jangirashvili says.
Media expert Zviad Koridze believes that the two companies will supposedly deliver outcomes based on political motivation that will confuse both viewers and business groups.
Measuring ratings is essential for media outlets, as the outcomes of the ratings provide commercials for media organizations. Interested individuals and business groups generally place their advertisements on the channels which enjoy high ratings.
TVMR Georgia - the commercial company who monitors the ratings of Georgian television stations was fined 800 GEL in March 2014 because of its refusal to issue information about the families participating in the survey.
