Expressing its shock and once again underscoring the need to overhaul the television rating system, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA), a collective of private television news and current affairs broadcasters in India, has demanded the suspension of Republic TV’s membership from the Indian Broadcasting Foundation. IBF is a body that represents television broadcasters. The demand comes after the Mumbai police released the WhatsApp conversation between Republic TV’s editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami and TV rating agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India's former CEO Partho Dasgupta.
The Mumbai police are investigating the alleged Television Ratings Point (TRP) manipulation case involving Republic TV and two other Marathi channels. As part of the supplementary chargesheet the police filed on Friday, they released over 500 pages of old WhatsApp conversations between Arnab Goswami and Partho Dasgupta, which purportedly took place between 2017 and 2019. The chats also consisted of chats with other former officials of BARC. Among the conversations that Partho shared with Arnab was allegedly on the ‘landing row’ controversy and how it was being monitored by BARC and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
“These messages clearly establish collusion between the two in manipulating ratings to garner greater viewership numbers for Republic TV month after month by fraudulently manually reducing ratings of other channels to give Republic TV an unfair advantage. These WhatsApp messages no only reflect manipulation of ratings but are also about the power play,” the News Broadcasters Association said. It is to be noted that Arnab Goswami and Republic are not part of NBA and formed an association called News Broadcasters Federation in 2019.
Calling the ratings by BARC unreliable, the association had also demanded the suspension of the television ratings agency as well as Republic TV’s membership from Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) till the case is resolved in the court. “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,” it said.
Pointing out that BARC, which handles the TRP ratings of channels, did not reveal the manipulations as part of its forensic audit report in July 2020, NBA said, “Not only did BARC not share the data with NBA on grounds of confidentiality, but no action was also taken against the erring broadcaster, no penalty and no Discom proceedings were initiated. In fact, even after the new management took charge, wide-scale manipulation continued.”
In October 2020, after the allegations came to fore, BARC had suspended the ratings for news channels and audience estimates for three months. Making a series of demands, the NBA said, “NBA's Board also wants to place on record that the corrupt data released month after month has not only led to reputation loss but has also caused huge financial losses to news broadcasters for which BARC is duty-bound to give an explanation.”
Here’s the full statement and demands from NBC:
NBA is shocked to see hundreds of WhatsApp messages that have been exchanged between BARC India's former CEO Mr Parho Dasgupta and Mr Arnab Goswami, Managing Director of ARG Outlier Media Pvt Ltd. These messages clearly establish collusion between the two in manipulating ratings to garner greater viewership numbers for Republic TV month after month by fraudulently manually reducing ratings of other channels to give Repbiuc TV an unfair advantage. These WhatsApp messages no only reflect manipulation of ratings but are also about power play, The messages exchanges go on to refer to the appointment of Secretaries, Cabinet reshuffle, access to the PMO and the workings of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. This only confirms the main 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 demands that IBF membership of Republic TV should be suspended with immediate effect till the case related to manipulation of ratings is pending in the court. NBA Board is also 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.
NBA has already conveyed to BARC that ratings are unreliable as far as we can see and should continue to be suspended in light of the recent revelations which shows the arbitrary nature of functioning at BARC. It shows that there are no checks and balances and the ability of a few within BRAC to easily change the ratings as they deemed fit, making the system subjective to the whims and fancy of the management versus being objective transparent system. The Oversight Committee with no representation of broadcasters and just consultants paid by BARC is an eye was to show autonomy. NBA strongly demands that action should be taken by BARC against these dubious actors, legal and police action should also be taken against those who are responsible for ruining the credibility of BARC and threaten to damage the credibility of the news broadcast business have hitherto gone about their business without any consequences or fear thereof.
It is indeed with dismay that NBA notes the fact that in spite of having a damning verdict in its possession since July 2020, BARC sat on the forensic report for several months, which brought to light these manipulations. This is a glaring example of the systemic lack of transparency that has prevailed right since the inception of BARC. Not only did BARC not share the data with NBA on grounds of confidentiality, but no action was also taken against the erring broadcaster, no penalty and no Discom proceedings were initiated. In fact, even after the new management took charge, wide-scale manipulation continued.
NBA's Board demands that BARC:
1. Make a clear statement about the veracity of its ratings in the period during the audit and also conducts an audit of the Hindi news genre.
2. Expunge the data of the erring broadcaster and restate the real position of rankings of all news channels from the beginning.
3. Explain the concrete steps that have been taken by BARC in the last three months to secure the ratings.
4. Bring transparency to the process and create a system whereby any changes to the ratings that impact the news ecosystem is done only after due consultation with a BARC Sub Committee of NBA nominees.
5. Explain what penal actions are provided for in the BARC constitution against broadcasters who have indulged in the manipulation of ratings of this magnitude and what action will be taken in the current case.
6. Ratings of news channels remain suspended till such time all details of such actions taken by NARC are shared with the stakeholders.
NBA's Board also wants to place on record that the corrupt data released month after month has not only led to reputation loss but has also caused huge financial losses to news broadcasters for which BARC is duty-bound to give an explanation.