Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, in a press conference today, said three channels including Republic TV are being investigated for ratings or TRP manipulation. Two people have been arrested in this case.
Mumbai| Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, in a press conference today, said three channels including Republic TV are being investigated for ratings or TRP manipulation. Two people have been arrested in this case. One of them is a former employee of the agency that installed the meters on households to assess ratings.
The commissioner said that officials of Republic TV will be summoned by today or tomorrow. The investigation is part of a larger analysis on the manipulation of news trends and how a “false narrative” was spread, the police said, adding that this information has been shared with the central government.
The commissioner informed that the bank accounts of the channels would be investigated, besides the funds they receive from advertisers and “whether they are from proceeds of crimes”.
“Anyone involved in the channel, no matter how top management, how senior, will be questioned, and if involved they will be investigated,” he added.
Mr Singh also said that if the crime is revealed, the bank accounts of these channels would be seized and more action would be taken.
“Household data were used by the channels for rating manipulation and they received illegal advertising funds. This will be considered proceeds of cheating,” the Mumbai police chief said.
“There was false TRP spreading. TRP ratings were being bought. The manipulation was mainly for advertising revenues,” he added.
According to the police, households were told to keep a certain channel switched on all the time. “Illiterate homes were asked to keep English channels on,” Mr Singh mentioned.
He also revealed that households were paid 400-500 Rs in return.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
