WhatsApp chat between Arnab Goswami and Partho shocking: NBA

The National Broadcasters Association (NBA) on Monday said that it was "shocked" to see the WhatsApp exchanged between Republic TV Chief Editor Arnab Goswami and former Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) CEO Partho Dasgupta that "clearly establish collusion" between the two in "manipulating" TV ratings.

In a statement, the NBA said that the messages "not only reflect manipulation of ratings but is also about power play" as it referred to the appointment of Secretaries, Cabinet reshuffle, access to the Prime Minister's Office and the workings of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Also Read | Bhushan shares screenshots of Arnab, ex-BARC CEO chat

"This only confirms the many and continuous allegations made by NBA in the last four years that ratings were being manipulated by a non-NBA member broadcaster in connivance with BARC’s top management officials," NBA Secretary-General Annie Joseph said in the statement.

The NBA demanded that the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) should suspend the membership of Republic TV with immediate effect till the case related to manipulation of ratings is pending in the court.

Republic TV is not part of the NBA but a member of the rival Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF). The NBA had earlier raised concerns over the ratings by BARC and called it "unreliable".

The statement said that it was of the view that the "manipulation of ratings by Republic TV has immensely damaged" the reputation of the broadcast industry and therefore it should be kept out of BARC rating system till final court order.

The NBA demanded that the BARC should expunge the data of the erring broadcaster and restate the real position of rankings of all news channels from the beginning. It should also explain the concrete steps that have been taken by BARC in the last three months to secure the ratings.