I&B MoS L Murugan says draft amendments to TRP guidelines aim to break monopoly

New Delhi: The Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, Dr L Murugan, on Wednesday confirmed that the I&B ministry has proposed draft amendments to the policy guidelines that govern TV rating agencies in India.

Responding to a query in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, Dr. L. Murugan, confirmed that the government is actively pursuing reforms to encourage fair competition, remove restrictive provisions for media houses, and attract more players into the ratings space.

The minister, in his response, wrote, “The government has proposed reforms to the television audience measurement system. Draft amendments to the existing Policy Guidelines for Television rating agencies in India dated 16.01.2014, have been published on the website of the Ministry for public consultation. 

Proposed reforms aim to enable fair competition, generate more accurate and representative data, and ensure that the TRP system accurately reflects the diverse and evolving media consumption habits of viewers across the country.” 

The proposals, published for public consultation on the Ministry’s website, seek to open up the audience measurement space beyond the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), which has so far held a near-monopoly on TV ratings in India.

The Ministry has also sought inputs from experts, stakeholders, committees and task forces, and is inviting public feedback through its official website before finalising the new rules.

For years, BARC has been India’s sole agency for measuring TV viewership, but controversies over alleged data manipulation and under-representation of niche and regional channels have triggered demands for a more open and transparent ratings framework.

At the heart of the issue lies an outdated methodology overseen solely by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), which does not track viewership from connected TV devices. 

MIB said that the current policy, framed in 2014, also includes restrictive clauses and cross-holding limitations that have kept new players, broadcasters, and advertisers from investing in or developing alternate measurement solutions, even if equipped with better technology or capital.

MIB highlighted the issues with the current TRP system:

1. BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) is currently the only agency providing TV ratings.

2. It does not track connected TV device viewership, despite it being a major trend.

3. Existing policies had entry barriers that discouraged new players from entering the TV ratings sector.

4. Cross-holding restrictions prevented broadcasters or advertisers from investing in rating agencies

The draft proposes removing these barriers, relaxing key provisions, and laying the groundwork for a multi-agency ecosystem that brings more transparency, innovation, and relevance to India’s audience measurement landscape.