The current system for measuring TV audiences in the Republic of Moldova is set to be improved in the coming years, following an external audit. Chairwoman of the Broadcasting Council (BC), Aneta Gonța, says that this solution was chosen after the transition to a new audience measurement system stalled due to a lack of financial resources.
“Unfortunately, there is this deadlock; no funds have been found to change the audience measurement system. Ultimately, a more practical and cost-effective solution was reached: to carry out an audit of the existing measurement system, so that we can see what is missing, what works well, what doesn’t, and, accordingly, invest in enhancing or improving the functionality of the existing system in the coming years,” said Aneta Gonța in an interview with Media Azi.
She added that she is already in discussions with an international expert who has experience in auditing audience measurement companies in other countries, and that they are set to determine the timeframe for the evaluation of the measurement system in our country.
According to her, one of the problems with the current system is the small number of broadcasters included in the measurements, which could affect the objectivity of the data. “Few television channels are currently included in the measurement. Without being an expert on this, I suspect that one of the experts’ recommendations would be to increase the number of television channels whose audience is measured, because otherwise these figures do not tell us very much. (…) From what I know and understand, as long as they are incomplete, they cannot be entirely credible. This does not mean that they are necessarily rigged or that they are not calculated correctly, but that they do not reflect objective reality, because not all TV channels are included in the survey. However, there are several criticisms of the survey, which is precisely why we want to proceed with an audit,” explained Aneta Gonța.
Media Azi reported two years ago that Kantar Media, named the winner of the tender on 29 March 2024, had proposed a cost of approximately 1.8 million euros per year for measuring audience share in the Moldovan broadcasting sector – a sum considered far beyond the capacity of the local market, estimated at less than one million euros per year. Two years on, the situation remained ‘at a standstill’. In the meantime, in an effort to find solutions, the Association for Audience Measurement (AMA) was established and registered, but without any concrete results.
The idea of conducting a technical audit of the current audience measurement system was raised by former Broadcasting Council Chairwoman Liliana Vițu in April 2026. At the same time, Ion Bunduchi emphasised to Media Azi that the solution must come from within the industry. “It is an industry issue, and its resolution – one that is taken on board – must also come from the industry, without allowing outside interference. When someone intervenes from the outside and things go wrong, there is always a temptation to blame that person. However, finding the culprit does not solve the industry’s problem. That is why it would be right for the industry to ‘reap what it sows’,” commented the media expert.