I received a compelling call from a client this Monday, highlighting his concern over the random unavailability of his channel across multiple cable and DTH platforms at the numerous hotels he frequented, despite Chrome DM reporting a staggering 99.1 pc OTS (Opportunity to See a.k.a. channel connectivity / availability) for his channel across Hindi Speaking Markets. This prompted us to perform a comprehensive investigation, involving meticulous location scrutinies and exhaustive primary checks across multiple locations. The outcome of this endeavour unearthed a revelation akin to the intriguing ‘Chance Pe Dance’.
Contrary to conventional perception, the availability of a channel at a home surpasses dependencies on mere set-top box or service provider placements and packages. DTH service providers beam their Signals in multiple polarities from different satellites, and the ground distribution needs to be precise as per the signal received from the antenna, especially in the case of MDUs (Multiple Dwelling Units) that operate on a single shared antenna.
The entire structure of the ratings system operates on sampling which is spread across homes and establishments including homes wherein multiple set-top boxes are connected to a single antenna (a common phenomenon across group housing societies and buildings).
The integration of MDUs introduces a singular antenna linked to a multitude of STBs, consequently necessitating multiple connectors, jointers and interconnecting wires. This architecture inherently weakens the signals as they traverse, as evidenced by both digital cable and DTH signal strength scans. These scans gauge signal strength on a 125-point scale, where higher numbers denote stronger signals. A signal strength above 80 is imperative for optimal audio and video playback. When the signal breaches this threshold, the outcome is a seemingly random freezing or blackout of channels – this is a common phenomenon in MDUs like hotel rooms and large housing societies. The culprits in this narrative include faulty connectors, connector erosion, and losses within co-axial cables. The random appearance / disappearance of channels is a potentially dangerous state of chance, akin to a lottery with nobody to blame.
The below videos captured from two households with the same service provider show two scenarios. In case #1 a 10-meter cable is connected from the dish antenna to the set top box without any joints – it ends up delivering all the channels (all channels are available at the household). In case #2, there is a 50-meter cable connected from the dish antenna to the set top box with multiple joints, resulting in multiple channels being not available due to the low signal strength.
The below pictures show the various signal strengths displayed in multiple set top boxes:
Evidently, a compelling argument emerges, underlining the imperative need to remove ratings meters from MDUs such as housing societies. The viewership data generated by these meters could be an answer to random week on week spikes in viewership across channels – and misleading insights for advertisers.
The primary objective of digitisation was to transition from analog to digital in order to achieve higher bandwidth and multiple channels. This transition has been successfully accomplished, with the number of channels increasing from 106 to well over 500 across various DTH providers or LCOs. However, in the case of analog, there was a certain assurance of channel availability, progressing from prime bands to colour bands, semi-color to hyper, and finally to UHF in a descending order of probability.
In contrast, in the current scenario, there is a 100 pc probability of uncertainty. There is no discernible logic or criteria for determining which channels may appear or disappear in any given home that is part of an MDU. Since the process of sampling does not exclude MDUs, this throws in a major research constraint of reporting of ratings data where the fate of a channel might completely be dependent on the quality and quality of connectors, connector erosion, and losses within co-axial cables at that one panel home which represents thousands of homes for the weekly ratings data.
This also sheds light on the sudden fluctuations in certain channels’ ratings across distinct markets – a phenomenon confounding data in various market segments and timeframes.
(The author is Founder and CEO, Chrome DM. Views are personal.)
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