BARC to pause weekly ratings of news channels

Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) announced that it will suspend the weekly rating of news channels for two-three months following an alleged rigging of viewership ratings. The suspension applies to all English, Hindi, regional and business news channels.

BARC will continue to release weekly audience estimates for the news genre by state and language. However, channel-wise data will not be released.

In an announcement, the television rating agency said that its technical committee will review and augment the current standards of reporting the data of niche genres in order to improve their statistical robustness and to significantly hamper the potential attempts of infiltrating the panel homes.

The development has been welcomed by the private television news broadcasters -- News Broadcasters Association (NBA) which called it as an important step which could help to mend its systems and restore the credibility.

News channels have come under the government scanner for noxious reportage and the ministry of information and broadcasting had issued an advisory to all the private news channels directing them to adhere to the programme and advertising codes that may not contain anything obscene, false, defamatory, half truth and deliberate content.

The decision came after the alleged TRP tampering by the television channels. BARC filed a complaint alleging that some channels are bribing the viewers to tune into a particular channel.