Updated: October 8, 2020 6:08:59 pm
Republic TV soon released a statement, saying that it will file a criminal defamation case against the Mumbai Police Commissioner.
Mumbai police claimed on Thursday to have blown up a “major uproar” that was “fraudulently involved in the manipulation of Television Rating Points (TRPs)” of television channels, including Republic TV. Four people have been arrested in the case.
Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh said that so far, three channels, including Republic, Fakt Marathi and Box Cinema, were found to be indulging in such malpractices.
Singh said that barometers to measure TRPs are kept in various undisclosed houses across the country, based on which the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) measures TRPs for channels.
“We discovered that some channels were paying former employees of the Hansa Research Group agency, hired by BARC to carry out the investigation. In turn, they were paying select households as barometers to calculate TRPs to keep certain channels like Republic on to show higher TRPs, ”Singh said.
He further said that some households were paid up to Rs 500 per day to keep certain channels on. “In some cases, people who didn’t understand English kept English channels like Republic all day long. We have recorded their statements, ”said the Commissioner.
According to the police, it was Hansa and BARC who first detected “unusual trends” in the PRTs and then approached the police. The criminal branch then registered an FIR at the Kandivali Police Station on charges of cheating and criminal breach of trust, after which they arrested a former Hansa employee and his associate.
Police found 20 lakh rupees from his bank account and 8.5 lakh rupees from his locker, which Singh said “should be paid to people to maintain certain channels.”
On the basis of their questioning, the police today arrested the owners of the Box Cinema and Fakt Marathi channels. “We have also brought in the Republic employee to understand who was involved and at what level,” Singh said.
“The money earned through the advertisements of these channels through false TRPs will be considered proceeds of crime. Once we find the accounts where the money was transferred, we will freeze them, “he added.
The Commissioner said that by manipulating the TRPs, the defendants caused losses to advertisers and other news channels that would suffer from lower TRPs compared to these channels. “The television advertising industry is worth between Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 crore,” he said.
BARC, under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), has installed approximately 30,000 barometers in various parts of the country on the basis of which it gives ratings to various TV channels. Based on these ratings, advertisers pay for their ad.
Republic TV soon released a statement denying the allegations, saying it will file a criminal defamation case against the Mumbai Police Commissioner. “Republic will fight, Republic will continue its investigation into the Sushant Singh Rajput case, the Palghar case and any other case,” the statement read.
Statement from Republic Media Network Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami pic.twitter.com/axhbJZ47eA
– Republic (@republica) October 8, 2020
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