Three news channels suspended for 4 weeks from BARC rating

It is said that media is the fourth pillar of democracy, but what happens if even they are held for malafied practices. The race and competition among the channels are so high that three news channels are being suspected for tampering the viewership numbers.

Various industry sources have revealed that BARC(Broadcast Audience Research Council) has decided to suspend the ratings data for India News, TV9 Telegu, and V6 News from Week 46 to Week 49 of 2016 for suspected malafide practices.

Earlier this year, BARC had sent Raj Television Network a show-cause notice in March for allegedly trying to tamper its viewership numbers. Also last month, BARC filed a police complaint in Kerala against tampering panel homes by a couple of channels in the state.

According to a source who did not wanted to be named “Channels should act responsibly. These temporary stunts to swell the rating will not be sustainable over a long term. They should be aware that once BARC has sufficient proof of malafide intent, BARC will stop publishing ratings for such channels. BARC is where strict if they suspect any individual or group of households of being compromised they are immediately removed from reporting in the BARC weekly published ratings release.’’