Republic TV being probed for manipulating TRP ratings

NIRMAL YESODA

Republic TV has been named among two other TV channels for manipulating TRP ratings and using it to spread fake narratives, thus using it to generate revenues from advertisements. Mumbai Police revealed that the probe is on, and they have already arrested two people.

One among the arrested person was a former employee of an agency that installed people’s meters in homes to assess ratings of television programs.

Republic TV had several times claimed that they are the channel with the highest TRP in between their news bulletins. According to Mumbai Police, officials Republic TV officials will be summoned soon.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh claimed that Republic TV has allegedly bribed Hindi-speaking families to watch Republic TV during prime time. The police officer also revealed that these families were being paid Rs 400-500 a month to watch Republic TV.

“There was false TRP spreading. TRP ratings were being bought. The manipulation was mainly for advertising revenues. If you see the data, poor uneducated households that don’t speak English were watching only English TV channels,” said Singh.

However, Republic TV’s Editor-In-Chief Arnab Goswami claimed that he is planning to sue the Mumbai Police commissioner for making false allegations against his channels. According to Arnab, the police officer is taking vengeance, as Republic TV has questioned his credibility while covering the death news of Sushant Singh Rajput.