Malayalam channel pays crores to BARC employee, hides TRP jump behind ‘landing page’

New Delhi: The television industry has been jolted by fresh allegations of large-scale TV ratings manipulation, after Malayalam channel Twentyfour News (twentyfournews.com) reported that a local news broadcaster allegedly transferred crores of rupees to a Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) employee to boost its TRPs.

According to Twentyfour News, the money was allegedly routed through cryptocurrency to a Mumbai-based BARC employee, with the total value of the transactions believed to be in the range of nearly Rs 100 crore. 

The investigation says the payments were made to secure advance access to sensitive BARC data and to influence ratings in favour of one Kerala news channel.

Complaint to CM and BARC, police probe ordered

The Kerala Television Federation (KTF) lodged a detailed complaint with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and with BARC’s top management, alleging systematic manipulation of the rating system in the state.

The complaint has prompted Kerala Police to open a preliminary probe. State Police Chief (DGP) Ravada Chandrashekhar confirmed that an investigation is underway and that officers have been asked to examine digital evidence and financial trails.

Alleged crypto trail to BARC employee

Twentyfour News has reported that the channel owner used USDT cryptocurrency routed to a Trust Wallet account held by a BARC employee identified as Premnath.

The report says:

1. Crores of rupees were allegedly transferred over a period of time.
2. The funds were then further distributed to multiple wallets.
3. The BARC insider is alleged to have supplied sensitive information, including PIN-code level details of areas where BARC meters are installed.

Investigators are now examining whether the pattern of transactions and communication points to a wider network, beyond a single channel and one employee.

WhatsApp chats, calls and pre-shared rating numbers

The Twentyfour News referred to WhatsApp messages and call records between the channel owner and the BARC employee.

The material cited includes:

1. Screenshots of chats in which weekly rating numbers for the channel were allegedly shared before BARC’s official releases.
2. Exchanges that appear to acknowledge payments.
3. Messages that allegedly include PIN-code information and guidance on where meters are placed.

In at least one instance flagged in the complaint, the pre-shared weekly numbers reportedly match BARC’s final data exactly, raising suspicion that the information was being leaked from inside the system rather than guessed or projected.

The report also notes that the channel’s ratings spiked during the same period, while rival channels did not see comparable movement.

Questions over ‘landing page’ explanation

Publicly, the channel is reported to have attributed its sudden ratings growth to being placed on the landing page of a relatively small cable network in North Kerala.

Twentyfour News points out that the cable operator in question has around 20,000 subscribers in a state with an estimated 8.5 million cable homes, and questions whether such limited landing-page exposure could, by itself, produce the scale of ratings jump seen in BARC data.

The investigation suggests that the “landing page” narrative may have been used as a cover story while ratings were allegedly being influenced through panel-level manipulation.

Alleged phone-farming to inflate YouTube numbers

Beyond television, Twentyfour News also reports that the same broadcaster allegedly invested in “phone-farming” setups abroad, particularly in Malaysia and Thailand, to inflate YouTube view counts.

According to the report, clusters of devices were used to generate views, while paid social media campaigns were run in parallel. The complaint claims that this created an artificial alignment between boosted TV ratings and digital metrics, reinforcing the impression that the channel’s popularity was surging across platforms.

Echoes of the 2020 TRP case, and ED closure

The fresh Kerala allegations come five years after the October 2020 TRP manipulation case in Mumbai, in which Mumbai Police had named several channels and accused them of influencing BARC’s panel homes and misusing dual LCN placements to push up ratings.

In that earlier case, BARC was forced to suspend news ratings for months, and the issue led to tighter policy guidelines for TV rating agencies.

However, in 2022, the Enforcement Directorate told a special PMLA court in Mumbai that it had found no evidence of money-laundering against Republic TV and R Bharat in the TRP case.

The agency said its findings were at variance with those of the Mumbai Police and did not name the channels or BARC officials as accused in its charge sheet, effectively closing that aspect of the case.

The Kerala investigation, triggered by the KTF complaint, once again brought the focus back on the integrity of the panel-based TV measurement system and the risk posed when insiders are alleged to be involved.

BestMediaInfo.com has sought a statement from BARC India on the matter and will update this report if the agency issues a statement.