In reports published by exchange4media.com, Hindustan Unilever’s executive director Hemant Bakshi, chairman of the media committee of the Indian Society of Advertisers, warned that abandoning TAM would be “a regressive step”.

“No ratings system is perfect,” he said. “It is our job as an industry to improve it.”

Separately, representatives of Aegis, Madison World and GroupM pledged to keep using TAM’s ratings data as it was “crucial” to the functioning of the TV advertising economy.

CVL Srinivas, the CEO of GroupM South Asia, told exchange4media: “A ratings system benefits the industry as a whole as without measurement, we are all shooting in the dark. If concerns exist in some quarters, they must be discussed with all stakeholders.”

His words echo that of TAM Media Research. A spokesman for the company told Research late yesterday that it was hoping to get all interested parties to sit down together to resolve the current disagreements.

So far, three broadcasters – Sony Entertainment Television Network, Times TV Network and New Delhi Television – have pulled out of the service, while more are threatening to do so. The broadcasters, all of whom have seen declines in their ratings, question the accuracy of TAM’s data.

Pictured is TAM CEO LV Krishnan.