Yap: "We expect to incorporate the JIC company within the first quarter of this year."

IN a move towards a credible single currency for TV audience measurement, the Media Specialists Association (MSA) has announced that the Joint Industry Committee (JIC), currently led by the MSA, will be incorporated as a registered company.

All JIC members, including representatives from MSA as well as two of Malaysia’s largest TV media owners, Media Prima TV and Astro, will be naming directors to the board of the incorporated company and will have equal voting power in order to maintain impartiality.

Commenting on the move, MSA president Yap Chee Weng says: “Our plan to achieve a single currency is progressing well. The incorporation will grant the JIC independent authority to govern the measurement methodology, enforce transparency, and ultimately ensure that the single currency is credible for advertisers to rely on.

“Upon incorporation, the immediate task for the JIC company is to appoint an independent auditor to audit the existing measurement systems, namely TV Audience Measurement (TAM) and Dynamic TV Audience Measurement (DTAM). This is a crucial step in establishing that both TAM and DTAM are being conducted accurately and transparently, and one that will address the fundamental concerns of all stakeholders regarding the validity of the current TV measurement data.”

Yap says that the JIC company will evaluate the need for an interim measure, which is a merger of TAM and DTAM, while efforts are being put in place for the longer term option of a single TV researcher for both TAM and DTAM measurement systems.

“In the best interest of all stakeholders, the JIC is currently evaluating the proof of concept and results of the merged TV measurement. Concurrently, we are also reviewing proposal and costing from shortlisted independent auditors.

“Barring any unforeseen circumstances, we expect to incorporate the JIC company within the first quarter of this year. It is imperative that the industry have a single currency to ease reporting and decision-making processes. For that reason, we buckled down and focused on expediting the development towards our single currency end goal,” he adds.