Thursday, October 15, 2020
TRP Scam: BARC's big action on fake TRP case, ban on news channels' ratings
The ratings agency Broadcast Audience Research Council has taken a big decision amidst the uproar over fake TRPs. BARC has currently banned weekly release ratings of news channels. The ban has been temporarily imposed on the ratings of news channels in all languages for 12 weeks. BARC has stated that the current system of measuring TRP data will be reviewed. It will be improved further.
Let me tell you that this case of fake TRPs came to the fore when BARC had lodged a complaint through Hans Research Group to the effect that some TV channels were tampering with TRPs. It was alleged that some such families were being bribed to run a particular channel, which had TRP data collecting devices in their homes.
The police has arrested at least five people in this case. Those arrested include news channel employees. Apart from this, police are also questioning officials of Republic TV led by Arnab Goswami. At the same time, Republic TV denied any wrongdoing.
Last week, Mumbai Police Commissioner (CP) Parambir Singh, in a press conference, claimed that Republic TV, Box Cinema and Pak Marathi channels had tampered with TRPs to garner better revenue from advertisements. However, Republic TV has completely rejected his claim.
BARC releases rating points every week for TV channels in India. BARC is a body of media industry formed to measure accurate, reliable and timely TV viewership. It works under the guidance of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the recommendations of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.