Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
The fuss about irregularities in the measurement of TV ratings in BiH continues. Ten TV stations and media agencies requested from Audience Measurement (AM) to carry out an audit of the measurement results. AM offered an ironic reply to the request more than one month later, claiming that the audit cannot be conducted at the request of one part of TV stations and agencies, but only at the request of the entire media industry. They formulated the reply like this because AM is sure that such consent will never be achieved, because the TV stations in whose interest AM rigs the results will not put their signature on such a motion.
Reaction to such a response was offered by Elvir Švrakić, director of TV Hayat and president of the Association of the Media Industry:
“Thank you for the prompt reply.
We regret that you have totally wrong information about who in the industry may seek audit.
Information about your refusal to a meeting related to the audit confirms the suspicion that there is something wrong with the measurement research.
We shall interpret your answer as a rejection of the audit, which allows us to take further legal action.”
Signed in the letter are: BHRT, Pink BH, Plus, Direct Media, Universal Media, Aquarius, Fabrika, Media House, ATV and TV Hayat.
Measurement of TV ratings was openly debated two days ago in the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Delegate Momčilo Novaković asked why illegal actions of the Institute for Metrology are being tolerated.
He wanted to know how come the state Institute on its own gave the Audience Measurement laboratories exclusive right for verification of devices for measuring viewership, and how come this agency, without any legal basis, authorized itself to measure viewership.
Novaković also warned of a number of other controversial decisions of the Institute for Metrology which have brought some TV stations in a privileged position.
“Among other things, it even declared peoplemeter as a measuring device of legal metrology. This order was followed by the illegal appointment of the laboratories for verification of devices. Whose consent did the director have when he appointed the aforementioned laboratory?” asked Momčilo Novaković, delegate of the National Democratic Movement (NDP) in the House of Representatives of BiH.
While NDP’s delegate is waiting for a written response, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH and Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, Mirko Šarović, said he has no clue what Novaković is talking about. He confirmed that the Institute did not obtain consent of the Council of Ministers for the contested decisions, and that the Ministry of Foreign Trade is preparing information on the situation within the Institute for Metrology and everything else that has caused a complete chaos in the media market.
MPs who became interested in the subject believe that the Council of Ministers should revoke the decision by which the Institute for Metrology became arbiter in the decision-making on who should measure viewership of TV programs in BiH.
As things stand now, Audience Measurement holds the monopoly, and BiH is the only country in Europe where the Institute for Metrology, by the will of its director Zijad Džemić, declared itself competent in the field of audience measurement.
“In this way they try to serve stories that some stations are more viewed tan others, which directly affects the division of the marketing pie in BiH, I think it’s worth somewhere around 30 million BAM, and of course advertisers contact those media which have higher ratings,” said Momčilo Novaković.
While the decisions of the Institute for Metrology raise dust in Parliament, Audience Measurement, the agency authorized for television audience measurement, reaffirms how much respect for the law they have.
They failed to comply with the latest decision of the Competition Council and have not yet paid a fine of 30,000 BAM for putting certain TV stations in a privileged position. Therefore, the Competition Council requested from the Public Attorney’s Office of BiH to initiate the procedure of forced collection of this fine.