NBA urges BARC not to release Republic TV's viewership data

The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has urged the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India to not to release Republic TV’s viewership data until the channel completely stopped using multiple LCNs (logical channel number).

In a letter written to BARC, the NBA has said that if the research council does not postpone the viewership data of Republic TV, it will be aiding and abetting such malpractice which could have serious consequences on the news broadcasting industry in the country.

In an earlier instance when NBA had approached BARC on similar issue, the research council issued a clarification on it. The association has requested BARC to do the same this time as well.

Also read: Multiple frequencies: Will it leave a permanent scar on the broadcast industry

Republic TV was launched on May 6 and the viewership data for the first week is scheduled to be released today.

However, it must be noted that BARC measures viewership basis watermark technology which means that each channel has a unique watermark. The viewership of the channel is mapped as per the number of times and the duration for which the watermark was captured, irrespective of the number of appearances on the EPG of any multi system operator (MSO)/ direct-to-home (DTH) or local cable operator (LCO).

The NBA had earlier reached out to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to take action against Republic TV, alleging it was being broadcast on multiple logical channel numbers (LCNs). The matter was first reported on BestMediaInfo.com in its report , “Republic TV resorts to 'multiple feed' for viewership, NBA writes to TRAI”.

BestMediaInfo.com has been consistently reporting on the row in its articles, “Why Republic TV was singled out in NBA’s complaint to TRAI” and “Republic TV multiple feed row: TRAI launches probe, writes to MSOs”.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com