New Delhi Television Limited - NDTV

Recommendation: Upheld | Medium: Industry Member

The ASCI had approached the advertiser for its response in addressing the grievances of the complainant and forwarded the details of the complaint, verbatim, to the advertiser with a request to respond to the same. The advertiser was offered an option to seek an Informal Resolution (IR) of the complaint by modifying or withdrawing the claim in the advertisement. The advertiser was also offered an opportunity for a telecon with the ASCI Secretariat, which they did not avail and neither did they submit their written response. The Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) viewed the YouTube advertisement (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuL_WRgLHfg) and considered the complaint. The CCC noted that no response was received from the advertiser prior to the prescribed due date as specified by the ASCI Secretariat. The CCC discussed the claim regarding NDTV’s market share on Bihar verdict day. The nature of this claim which relates to audience data and market share requires a valid and verifiable source, such as official BARC ratings. It was observed that no source was provided by the advertiser at the time of airing to substantiate the claim. Based on these observations, the CCC concluded that the claim, “NDTV Dominates Bihar Verdict Day With 46.6% Market Share On Counting Day”, contravened Chapter I, Clause 1.2 of the ASCI Code. This complaint was UPHELD. The CCC observed that the advertiser has subsequently added a source for the said claim.