The campaign to change the system was instigated by the News Broadcasters Association last month, and ratings agency TAM Media Research said that it would listen to industry feedback before making any change to the current system.

However, LiveMint.com reports that the Indian Society of Advertisers and the World Federation of Advertisers are opposed to altering the reporting frequency. The ISA told TAM that its members would continue to use weekly ratings, and threatened to create a new ratings measurement organisation.

LiveMint said that sections of the TV industry want to change to monthly ratings in order to focus on better quality programming rather than short-term ratings wins, but advertisers fear that a change to monthly ratings would hurt their ability to decide where to advertise.

The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) is also against a shift away from monthly ratings. Its president, Nagesh Alai said: “”Obviously, when there are large advertising outlays involved, clients need to know whether they are getting value for their buck. AAAI respects the commercial relationship that TAM has with the IBF, but we are not involved in that. Advertisers and agencies need weekly ratings.”