Mumbai police busts TV TRP fraud

Mumbai Police has claimed to have busted a racket that involved private television channels manipulating their Television Rating Points, or TRP. One of the three channels is Republic TV.  Addressing a press conferance on Thursday, the Mumbal Police Commissioner, Paramvir Singh said the police are probing a scam involving manipulation of TRPs. He identified three channels, namely Fakt Marathi, Box Cinema, and Republic-TV which the police commissioner said are involved in distorting the apparatus used by BARC to rate television channels.

The ratings scam was revealed in a larger analysis on manipulation of news trends and how a "false narrative" was spread, especially in connection with the probe into actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death, Singh said. The information has been shared with the central government, he added."The biggest name to emerge is Republic TV. The directors and promoters of Republic TV are being investigated for ratings fraud," said Singh.The bank accounts of the channels will be investigated, Singh told reporters, besides the funds they receive from advertisers and "whether they are from proceeds of crimes". More channels could also be examined, he said. Asked whether the inquiry would include Arnab Goswami, the Editor-in-Chief of Republic, the police chief said: "Anyone involved in the channel, no matter how much in the top, how senior, will be questioned, and if involved they will be investigated. No one, no matter how senior, will escape."

He explained that the scam was based on household data being revealed to channels and being used to manipulate ratings. "Based on these ratings they received illegal advertising funds. This will be considered proceeds of cheating," said the police chief."There was false TRP spreading. TRP ratings were being bought. The manipulation was mainly for advertising revenues."The media organisations allegedly bribed the households to keep their channel switched on all the time. "If you see the data, poor uneducated households that don't speak English were watching only English TV channels,"  Singh said. He claimed that the families were offered a monthly payment of ₹ 400-500 for their role in pushing up ratings. 

In a statement issued later on Thursday, BARC said, "As in all our previous cases of suspected panel homes intrusions, BARC India continues to follow its established vigilance and disciplinary guidelines. BARC remains steadfastly true to its purpose to accurately and faithfully report 'What India Watches'. BARC India appreciates the efforts of the Mumbai Police and will provide the support asked of it.The police action was initiated on a complaint from Hansa, the firm contracted by Broadcast Audience Research Council, or BARC, to install audience measurement meters installed in selected households to track television channels that are being watched by people. Singh said about 30,000 such meters had been installed across the country; 2,000 in Mumbai. Information about the households where the meters are installed is treated as confidential so that the data isn’t manipulated.

Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami responded soon after, linking the police action to the channel’s coverage of certain events including the police probe into Sushant Singh Rajput’s death and threatened to file a criminal defamation against the police commissioner. “He should issue an official apology and get ready to face us in court,” Goswami said.

The Shiv Sena hit out at the three TV news channels that were allegedly involved in a scam to manipulate TRP ratings during their coverage of actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death and developments related to the case.Hailing the Mumbai Police for "busting" an agenda of "lies and propaganda", Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said that this is the worst instance of "so-called journalism" revealed by the Mumbai Police.