Some Broadcasters do not Want the BCC to Participate in Selecting the Audience Measurement Company

At the first public consultations that took place in Chisinau on Monday, 5 March, some of the broadcasters requested that the representatives of the Broadcasting Coordination Council (BCC) would not be part of the special committee that will select the audience measurement company, but only to monitor the selection process. This was one of the suggestions made during the debates on the draft Regulation on Method of Selection of the Audience Measurement Company in the Audiovisual Field, organized by the BCC.

Ghenadie Braghis, Sales Manager at PRO Chisinau, and the Chairperson of the ‘Media Alternativa’ Association, holder of the TV 8 license – Natalia Morari, proposed that the special committee consist of 15 members – five persons representing the broadcasters, another five representing advertising agencies and five more representing the largest local clients, but no representatives of the BCC and of advertising sales houses.

Braghis argued that the sales houses don’t need to be represented in the special committee because they often belong to broadcasters and, therefore, the parity of votes wouldn’t otherwise be observed.
Natalia Morari added that, from the standpoint of the institution she represents, BCC members should not be in this committee because it is the media industry and sales houses that should decide what company should measure the audience shares, and not the representatives of the government, which does not contribute financially in this regard.

Please note that, according to the BCC draft, the special committee selecting the audience measurement company was to consist of 15 members, of which five were to be nominated by the BCC members, five were to represent the broadcasters with the highest audience share and another five – from the advertising agencies, sales houses and advertising clients with the highest turnover.

The BCC member, Veronica Cojocaru, mentioned that BCC will analyse all the opinions of market players before making a final decision on matter. She added that many efforts were invested in the development of the draft, that the experience of several countries was looked into and that the BCC has no other interests than to guarantee the transparent selection of this company.