Mumbai police to summon Republic TV directors, owners of 2 other channels arrested for manipulating TRP ratings

The Mumbai Police on Thursday claimed to have unearthed a scam to manipulate Television Rating Points (TRPs) and named three channels, including the Arnab Goswami-headed Republic TV.

The owners/directors of Box Cinema and Fakt Marathi channels were arrested on Thursday while those from Republic TV are being summoned on Friday, Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh said.

TRP is a tool to judge viewers' choice and the popularity of a TV channel, thus directly linked to the advertisements it commands. The ratings are calculated on the basis of viewership in a confidential set of households through a device known as barometer.

The Broadcast Audience Research Council, which functions under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, releases weekly rating points for channels.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting notified the policy guidelines for television rating agencies in India on January 10, 2014, under which the industry-led body BARC was accredited to carry out the television ratings in India.

The TRPs were allegedly manipulated by the former employees of Hansa Research Group Pvt Ltd, an agency which was given the contract for monitoring barometers.

Investigations revealed that the accused had bribed people and asked them to keep some channels switched on even when they weren't watching.

“During investigations it has been found that ex-employees of Hansa were compromising the data and sharing with the channels,” he said.

"The accounts of these channels could be frozen if it is established that they made advertising money using rigged ratings, Singh said.

“TRP is all about TV rating points….it commands Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 crore of the TV ad industry…how to fix the rate of advertisements depends on TRPs. Change of TRPs can impact hundreds of crores of revenue here and there,” he said.

The accounts of the channels could be frozen if it was established that the channels made advertising money using rigged ratings, the Mumbai Police chief said.

"Anyone involved in the channel, no matter how top management, how senior, will be questioned, and if involved they will be investigated," Singh asserted.

"Household data were used by the channels for ratings manipulation and they received illegal advertising funds. This will be considered proceeds of cheating," he added.

Arnab hits back

Arnab Goswami said it was an attempt to target the channel, which was critical of the government and Mumbai Police in its coverage of the Sushant Singh case.

Hitting back at the Mumbai Police, Republic TV’s Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami said it was an attempt to target the channel for its coverage on the Maharashtra government vis-à-vis Palghar mob lynching and Sushant Singh Rajput cases.

“Param Bir Singh’s investigation in the Sushant Singh Rajput case is under a cloud and this is a desperate measure because of Republic TV’s reportage on Palghar, the Sushant Singh Rajput case or any other case. This kind of targeting only strengthens the resolve of everyone at Republic TV to push for the truth even harder,” he said in a statement.

“Param Bir Singh stands completely exposed today since BARC has not mentioned Republic in any single complaint. He should issue an official apology and get ready to face us in court,” said the channel.