Republic TV officials will be summoned today or tomorrow, the official said.
Mumbai:
Three channels, including Republic TV, are under investigation for ratings or manipulation of TRP, Mumbai police said today. Two people have been arrested. One of them is a former employee of an agency that installed “people meters” to assess ratings.
Officials from Republic TV, which claims the highest TRP or Television Rating Points among news channels, will be summoned today or tomorrow, the official said.
According to the Mumbai police, the investigation is part of a larger analysis of the manipulation of news trends and how a “false narrative” was spread. The information has been shared with the central government, they said.
Mumbai Police Chief Paramvir Singh said the channels’ bank accounts will be investigated, as well as the funds they receive from advertisers and “whether they come from the proceeds of crime.” More channels could also be examined, he said.
“Anyone who is involved in the channel, no matter how top management, how senior, will be questioned and if they participate they will be investigated,” he said.
If any crime is revealed, the accounts will be confiscated and further action will be taken, Singh said.
“The channels used the household data to manipulate the ratings and received illegal advertising funds. This will be considered the product of cheating,” said the police chief.
“There was a false TRP spread. TRP ratings were being bought. The manipulation was mainly for ad revenue,” he added.
As part of this, households were told to keep a certain channel on at all times. “Illiterate households were asked to keep the channels in English,” Singh said.
Households were offered monthly payments of 4 to 500 rupees in return.
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