Is another news rating blackout in the offing?

More than a year after the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) resumed ratings for news channels, there are speculations that there might be another blackout. According to industry sources, few prominent news channels are demanding discontinuation of ratings ahead of crucial year 2024, that has a series of elections. Notably, five state elections and Lok Sabha polls are due in next one year, spiking the demand for news.

Pre-empting a possibility of discontinuation of ratings, the News Broadcasters Federation (NBF) on August 8 reached out to the Information and Broadcasting Minister seeking relief. The body in its letter has claimed that a group of broadcasters are attempting “to impede the ongoing transparent process of publishing weekly ratings for the news genre.”

The letter, a copy of which is available with exchange4media, reads, “We write to you, with severe concern, to request that there is no disruption in the publishing of ratings for the news genre as disseminated by the rating agency BARC. News ratings are the lifeline of honest news organisations whose existence and sustenance are measured and delivered based on the performance of their weekly ratings by their viewers across India.”

Other industry body of news broadcasters NBA held a meeting on August 4 to discuss the issue. However, there was no consensus on the matter.

When contacted for comment, M K Anand, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Times Network, said they are surprised that such a conversation has come up for discussion. “In October 2020, when the ratings were blacked out, there was a bonafide reason, Mumbai police had unearthed a scandal. However, during the interim period, BARC management has changed; there is a new board, a new chairman and a new head for the technical committee. We don’t have any doubts on the veracity of the data nor do we doubt any wilful tampering etc.”

“The process and transparency are a matter of continuous improvement, and that is being done by the BARC management, which has been quite responsive. We don’t see any reason why the ratings should be discontinued,” he told e4m.

The BARC suspended ratings for news channels in October 2020 after allegations that channel ratings were rigged by a few influential broadcasters like Republic TV. Ratings had remained suspended for 18 months. It was only after government intervention that the ratings were resumed in March 2022.

Following an order from the MIB, the BARC reviewed its processes, protocols and oversight mechanism and initiated changes in the governance structure. Following an industry-wide consultative process, the BARC team developed the augmented data reporting standards for news and special interest genres. According to the revised approved standards, audience estimates for these genres will only be released based on a four-week rolling average every week, BARC had said in a statement releasing the first weekly data.

e4m reached out to all stakeholders for comments on the matter, but is yet to get any response.