Ratings manipulation case: CBI files chargesheet against ex-BARC CEO in Lucknow court
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a chargesheet against former BARC CEO Sunil Lulla for manipulating viewership ratings of TV channels from “his ends” during his tenure in the ratings agency, officials said Tuesday. During the probe that was started on a complaint from a Lucknow-based advertiser, the CBI did not find any evidence of alleged manipulation being done at the customer level by channels, they said.
The alleged manipulation of TV ratings took place at the level of Lulla when he was heading the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), according to the agency chargesheet filed at a special CBI court in Lucknow. The agency has pressed charges under IPC sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), and others. The court will take cognizance of the chargesheet on December 15, said CBI officials.
TRP or Television Rating Points of a channel or programme are used to measure popularity by advertising agencies that impact pricing. The points are calculated in India by BARC using a device installed in over 45,000 households across the country called “Bar-O-Meter“. The device collects data about a programme or channel watched by members of these households on the basis of which weekly ratings are issued by BARC.
The case, which was earlier registered at Hazratganj Police Station in Lucknow on a complaint of an advertising company promoter, was handed over to the CBI by the Uttar Pradesh government, said CBI officials.
Before this case, Mumbai Police registered a probe accusing Republic TV owner and Editor Arnab Goswami and India Today of manipulating TRP rating.[1]
PGurus published two reports on the TRP scam and manipulations by certain cartels of TV channels in connivance with the rating agency BARC. The first report is available here[2]. The second report was on the intricacies of manipulation by certain TV channels, foreign players, and advertisement agencies in connivance with BARC to share the annual advertisement budget of more than Rs.70000 crores. The second report is available here[3].
Reference:
[1] Republic TV vs Times Now: Who is right about ED’s TRP scam chargesheet? – Sep 30, 2022, Newslaundry
[2] TRP Scam: How UPA Government manipulated rules to favour BARC to mint money of Rs.70,000 crore businesses annually – Apr 20, 2018, PGurus.com
[3] TRP Scam: Data fudging or leakages by totally foreign companies-controlled TRP rating agency BARC? – Apr 22, 2018, PGurus.com
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Inspite of being land of truth & spiritual truth, India has maximum number of traitors & corrupt persons than anywhere in the world. Civil bureaucracy lacks integrity in their work. NO competence in decision making.