Delhi High Court Adjourns Kantar Media Appeal

The High Court in Delhi has once again adjourned Kantar Media Research's appeal against new government guidelines imposed on its TAM TV audience measurement service. The case will now be heard on 26th August.

In January, the Indian government announced plans that stipulate that no investor can hold more than 10% equity holdings in both a TV ratings agency and a broadcaster or advertising company - TAM is a 50:50 joint venture between Nielsen and Kantar. To comply with the guidelines, firms were also supposed to have registered with the I&B Ministry by February, and raised sample size to a minimum of 20,000 panel homes - potentially a blow to the TAM joint venture, whose panel at the time comprised 9,600 homes.

By mid-February, the High Court had postponed the case on the grounds that certain requirements of the guidelines would have left the country without audience currency for most of the year. The court then adjourned Kantar Media's appeal against the guidelines until 11th July.

Now the appeal has been pushed back to late August, after Justice Manmohan found that the newly elected government has not yet appointed a lawyer to act on its behalf. In the meantime, TAM can continue publishing its TV ratings until the court decides on Kantar's petition.