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Raising concerns on accuracy, transparency and fairness, Malayalam news channel MediaOne TV has discontinued its association with the rating agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India. In a statement issued on October 29, MediaOne TV CEO Mushthaq Ahmed alleged that BARC ratings had consistently failed to reflect the channel’s true performance.
The statement listed inaccurate and inconsistent ratings as a key concern. It alleged that the ratings did not align with their actual reach and influence. The channel raised questions of data integrity citing “unexplained rating surges for lesser-known competitors”. According to the statement, the distribution of rating meters of BARC were unscientific and demographically skewed. The channel management argued that BARC neglected digital viewership, a major mode of media consumption.
"This decision comes after extensive deliberation by our Board of Directors, following persistent concerns regarding the accuracy, transparency, and fairness of BARC’s rating system," wrote Mushthaq in the statement.
Announcing the decision on the channel’s Editor's Take programme, MediaOne editor Pramod Raman alleged that some other channels were manipulating ratings by purchasing landing pages. Lansing pages refer to the channel which appears when a TV is switched on.
“Viewers will be forced to watch the channel whether they like it or not. This is not an organic rating. It has been created by spending crores,” Pramod said. He added that there was no transparency regarding the sampling size.
In 2022, English news channel NDTV pulled out of BARC ratings citing similar issues of transparency and inaccuracy. NDTV rejoined BARC after two years following the Adani group takeover.
BARC ratings are crucial for television channels with advertisements as the major revenue source. Those with higher BARC ratings earn a major share of advertisement in the media industry.