I&B Ministry Directs to Restart News Channel Ratings
The Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting has asked television monitoring agency Broadcast Audience Research
Council India (BARC) responsible for measuring television viewership in India,
to immediately release Television Rating Points (TRPs) for news channels, after
it made changes to governance structure for the data with immediate effect and
also to release the last three months data, for the genre in a monthly format,
for fair and equitable representation of true trends. Additionally, it set up a
joint working group with stakeholders from the industry and government on board
and asked them to come up with specifications and protocols to leverage Return
Path Data (RPD) from set-top boxes while addressing privacy concerns that arise
as a result.
The TRPs for news channels will be released after a gap of nearly 15
months. BARC stopped publishing the TRP for news channels in October 2020 after
allegations of rigging by some news channels emerged. Soon after, the
government formed a committee headed by Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar
Vempati to look into the TRP practices. The committee submitted its report
exactly a year ago, on January 12, 2021. Under the new system, the reporting of
news and niche genres, which have a smaller sample size making them prone to
rigging, will be on a “four-week rolling average concept. The Vempati-led joint
working group will now consider if RPD capabilities can be used for measuring
TRPs and will submit its report in four months. It will study audience
measurement, international practices, security of the viewership data, and will
have to come up with minimum standards for RPD capable set-top boxes, protocols
for certifications and auditing, and common standards to the existing rating
methodology to integrate with RPD.
BARC has indicated that in view of the
changes undertaken by it, it is reaching out to related constituencies to
explain the new proposals and is ready to commence the release the ratings as
per the new protocols. Over the last
several days, there have been various news reports as regard to Television
Ratings and BARC India. BARC India as an industry body has representation from
bodies that represent Broadcasters, Advertisers, and Advertising and Media
Agencies. BARC India owns and manages a transparent, accurate and inclusive TV
audience measurement system. BARCs management team works with full confidence
and support of Board and the various Committees. BARC continues to be driven by
only one goal: to generate ratings that its subscribers rely on which are
deeply rooted in science, report with the greatest sense of responsibility and
truly reflect ‘What India Watches.
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