‘Mass scale’ tampering of TV viewership data in AP-Telangana alleged

The issue of tampering of television viewership data has cropped up once again, this time in Andhra Pradesh/ Telangana market. A concerned citizen has written to I&B Minister Anurag Singh Thakur alleging mass level malpractice in the Andhra Pradesh/ Telangana market and has sought “appropriate investigation” into the issue to “restore sanctity of viewership mechanism”.

In the letter, which Adgully is privy to, the person, who preferred to remain anonymous, mentioned about a case in AP/TS, where “household viewing is tampered/ exploited on ground at a mass scale”. He attached a pen drive along with his letter as visual proof, which purportedly shows “news people telling the viewers to watch only Ntv News and to not watch any other news channel.”

The letter alleges that “such mass scale tampering has resulted in almost a vertical rise in Ntv viewership over the last one and half years. The person goes on to claim that “NTV is not only using this tampered viewership data to mislead the advertisers, but also claiming this artificial supremacy by advertising heavily in mass media.

The person further states that some other smaller news channels, too, are involved in this “malpractice”. “As per my information, 800+ panel households are influenced or compromised in an organised manner,” he alleged.

One would recall that a TRP rigging scam had shaken the news television world in the second half of 2020, following which BARC India had put on hold releasing the TV ratings data for news channels for over one and a half years as it cleaned up its operations and top management team. Quite a few heads rolled in the interim and the Enforcement Directorate and Mumbai Police carried out their investigations. Former BARC CEO, Partha Dasgupta, was among those who were arrested in this case.

Allegations of TRP manipulation were raised against Republic TV. Now, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has stated that it has not found any evidence of Republic TV’s involvement in the TRP manipulation scam. In a charge sheet filed before a special court in Mumbai in September 2022, ED stated that the probe carried out by the Mumbai Police in this case was “at variance” with ED”s probe.

However, the ED’s charge sheet also pointed out the involvement of some regional channels as well as some entertainment channels in influencing panel households to manipulate viewership data.