Mumbai Police have summoned Republic TV Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Shiva Sundaram, Madison World Founder, President and CEO Sam Balsara, and IPG Mediabrands CEO Shashi Sinha to record their statements regarding with the TRP attachment racket that they claim to have broken.
“They have been called upon to register their statement under section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code,” said Deputy Police Commissioner (Crime) Milind Bharambe. Calls and texts to Shiva Sundaram of Republic TV went unanswered.
Sinha and Balsara, the best media planners and buyers, have probably been called experts.
“The Mumbai police have called me to be present at their office. I have no idea what they called me or what they are going to ask me. So, I can’t say anything for now. I’ll go meet them tomorrow, ”Sinha said.
Sam Balsara said: “I am a BARC customer. The Mumbai Police have requested my help to assist in the investigation, and I am happy to do so. “
Also read: will sue the police chief, says Arnab Goswami in investigation naming Republic TV in TRP fraud
BARC stands for Broadcast Audience Research Council. On Thursday, Mumbai police said they arrested a former Hansa Research executive, hired by BARC to run its audience measurement service by installing barometers in homes across the city. They also detained three others, including two owners of small local channels. At a press conference on Thursday, the Mumbai police named Republic TV, which denied the charges and said it would sue the police. Republic also showed on its channel a copy of the FIR that does not name it but India Today TV. Republic TV said it was under attack for its prosecution of the Sushant Singh Rajput death case.
The four detainees, Vishal Bhandari, Bompalli Rao Mistry alias Sanjiv Rao, 44, and the owners of the channels Fakt Marathi and Box Cinema Shirish Shetty and Narayan Sharma were presented in court on Friday and placed in police custody until 13 December. October.
Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh said there was no evidence against India Today. “Hansa Research Private Limited conducted an internal investigation of the arrested defendant Vishal Bhandari, after they received a complaint stating that he was paying multiple households to tune in to certain channels. India Today’s name came up during its internal investigation based on which an FIR was filed at the Kandivali Police Station on October 6. We took custody of Bhandari and recorded witness statements and have not found any evidence to substantiate the claim that India Today was involved. in manipulating TRPs, ”Singh said.
TRPs or TV Rating Points are a reflection of how many people watch a channel and are used by media buyers and planners to decide which channels to advertise on.
Bhandari has named only three channels Fakt Marathi, Box Cinema and Republic Bharat TV so far, said a crime section official who asked not to be named. According to Hansa Research, approximately 30,000 barometers are installed across India to monitor various channels and programs according to which BARC gives ratings to channels. Of the 30,000, 2,000 barometers are installed in Mumbai.
Nitin Deokar, Deputy Managing Director of Hansa Research Private Limited who filed the complaint at Kandivali Police Station, said in it that Bhandari was working as a relationship manager with the company from November 2019 to May 2020. These relationship managers had the task of monitoring a certain number of households with barometers. Deokar in his complaint stated that during an internal investigation they discovered that Bhandari used to pay households to watch India Today.
“But during the investigation, we didn’t find any evidence. And when we visited Tajal Solanki’s residence in the Kandivali area where a barometer was installed, we found that India Today was not subscribed at all. During the investigation, Solanki and an older person at his residence told us that they were asked to watch Republic TV, ”added the crime section officer.
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