Amid TRP scam row, BARC temporarily suspends rating news channels for 12 weeks

Oct. 15: Amid the TRP racket controversy, the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) has paused the measurement of television viewership ratings of news channels for a period of 12 weeks with immediate effect. According to the decision, BARCwill not publish the weekly individual ratings for all news channels during the period. This would include all Hindi, Regional, English News and Business News channels with immediate effect.

BARC measures TV viewership on behalf of broadcasters, advertisers and advertising agencies. The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has welcomed the decision. For many years, NBA has been highlighting its concerns about the veracity of TV viewership data, which have been prone to irrational fluctuations. Recent events have shown that there is much more at stake than just the measurement of news channels’ popularity.

The Mumbai Police is probing the “fraudulent” manipulation of TRPs involving three channels — Republic, Fakt Marathi, and Box Cinema.