TRP scam: NBA demands suspension of Republic TV's ratings and IBF membership

Representational Image (Reuters)

New Delhi: The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) on Monday (January 18, 2021) demanded the suspension of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) membership of Republic TV with immediate effect.

The NBA said that it should be suspended till the case related to manipulation of ratings is pending in the court.

"NBA Board is also of the view that the manipulation of ratings by Republic TV has immensely damaged the reputation of the broadcast industry and therefore it should be kept out of BARC rating system till final court order," the NBA said in an official press release.

The press release added that NBA has already conveyed to Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) that ratings are unreliable as far as they can see and should continue to be suspended in light of the recent revelations which shows the arbitrary nature of functioning at BARC.

They also said that they are 'shocked' to see hundreds of WhatsApp messages that have been exchanged between BARC India’s former CEO Partho Dasgupta and Republic TV's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami.

"These messages clearly establish collusion between the two in manipulating ratings to garner greater viewership numbers for Republic TV month after month by fraudulently manually reducing ratings of other channels to give Republic TV an unfair advantage," said NBA. 

They also demanded that the ratings of news channels remain suspended till such time all details of such actions taken by BARC are shared with the stakeholders.