CHENNAI: In the shifting dynamics of television viewership, a little spurt or slide on the graph can tell which programme is proving winsome and which is losing loyalty.

And, as audience preferences are mapped 24x7 using high-end technology these days, sharper viewer profiles are redefining everything — from television programming to corporate marketing strategy.

Ahmedabad-based Audience Measurement and Anaytics Ltd (aMap), which set up shop in 2004, on Friday announced a ramp up of its services across the country to reach out to 6,000 metered urban households, which translates into 27,000 viewers across 87 towns.

The company, which now provides overnight TV ratings by collating data from empanelled viewers at its central server in Ahmedabad, stated its readiness in terms of technology and expertise to upgrade to real time audience rating.

"We are also well placed to provide ratings in a DTH or CAS scenario," said Tapan Pal, Chief Executive Officer of aMap.

aMap currently has 46 television channels subscribing to its viewership data issued from the data centre in Ahmedabad at 9.30 a.m. (for the previous day), and expects more takers for the ratings down South. The television viewership profile includes demographic details, durable product ownership, occupation status and other parameters.

aMap believes that it is now a better representative of the heterogenous urban viewership with the addition of Bihar, Guwahati, Jharkhand and Jammu to the 28 markets it began with.

State-of-the-art system

The state-of-the-art audience measurement system, which uses telecontrol devices to collate data on viewing patterns and GSM modems for data transfer to the central server, has impacted not just the television rating system in the country but has also set new rules for programming, media planning and selling ad space on television, said Ravi Dixit, Director (Research and Knowledge Management).

The central server dials into each meter to collect data for automated processing and data health checks. "There's little scope for human error," said Mr. Dixit. aMap also has a quality check system where around 5 per cent of the households are randomly crosschecked for reliability of the data.

aMap's research analysis arm, DecisionCraft Analytics Ltd., also provides subscribers with interpretation of the data.

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