Republic TV is one of three channels being investigated for suspected gambling ratings.
New Delhi:
Republic TV and two other TV stations have been accused of altering ratings to achieve high advertising rates, a procedure amounting to fraud, Mumbai police said on Thursday, amid an argument on the cover of the Sushant Singh Rajput affair and strong criticism. of the Mumbai Police by a section of canals. Households monitored for ratings are being bribed to run the affected channels, police said, adding that the owners of two TV channels had been arrested. Republic TV said they were being targeted for their coverage of the Sushant Rajput case where they questioned the role of the police. The channel also said it would sue the police for defamation.
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A case of criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal breach of trust has been filed. The owners of two TV channels – Fakt Marathi and Box Cinema – have been arrested and the directors and promoters of Republic TV are under investigation for rating fraud, Mumbai police said.
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Republic TV officials – who claim the highest TRP or TV rating points among news channels – will be summoned in a day or two, police said. Other channels will be reviewed and the probe will cover all aspects including channel revenue, bank details and advertising revenue.
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Republic TV said the Mumbai police chief made false allegations “because we interviewed him in the Sushant Singh Rajput case”. Calling it a desperate measure, channel director Arnab Goswami said: “He (the Mumbai police chief) should issue a public apology or prepare to face us in court.”
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The odds scam emerged during a larger analysis of the manipulation of news trends and how a “false narrative” spread, particularly regarding the investigation into the death of Sushant Singh Rajput Mumbai Police Chief Param Bir Singh said. The information was shared with the central government, he added.
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The Mumbai Police FIR also names India Today, but Commissioner Param Bir Singh told GalacticGaming: “In the FIR, India Today was named by one of the witnesses. But as the investigation progressed neither BARC, neither the witnesses, nor the accused named India Today. All named Republic TV, Marathi channels. At the moment, no evidence against India Today. We are suing against Republic TV, Marathi channels. ”
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The fraud, police said, involved bribery of households that were monitored by agencies that generate and publish the ratings. In Mumbai, 20,000 homes are monitored. In many homes, people were paid Rs 400-500 per month to keep specific channels on even if they weren’t watching them.
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The manipulation became evident when it emerged that poor non-English speaking households were watching news channels in English. The investigation initiated a complaint from Hansa, an agency that placed the rating counters.
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The investigations revealed that former Hansa employees shared confidential data with the three channels under investigation. Hansa’s data is used by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), which publishes weekly ranking points for channels across the country.
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Arnab Goswami of Republic TV said there was “not a single BARC report that mentioned Republic TV”. “The Indian people know the truth. BARC has not mentioned the republic in any complaint,” he added.
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The manipulation of ratings has been a long-standing allegation in the television industry. Central ministers pointed out this and recently even the Supreme Court mentioned it in the case related to Sudarshan TV’s “UPSC Jihad” show. “The problem with electronic media is all about TRPs, leading to more and more sensationalism that damages people’s reputations,” a judge said.
