TRP guidelines to go through multiple rounds of consultation, says I&B Ministry

New Delhi: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry is drawing up new guidelines for television rating agencies, and more than one round of industry consultation is planned before the rules are finalised, Union I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday.

“One round of public consultation has already been done. More rounds of consultation may follow. We are following a fully consultative approach,” Vaishnaw said.

In July, the ministry issued draft amendments to the 2014 Policy Guidelines for Television Rating Agencies in India. The draft seeks to open up the market beyond the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), which is currently the sole television viewership currency.

The ministry had earlier said that the current framework does not accurately reflect how Indians now consume video across platforms, including cable, DTH, smartphones, connected TVs and OTT, and that the rating system must evolve to track this multi-screen behaviour.

The Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation has opposed the move, signalling that BARC remains the sole currency for now, even as TAM explores a multiscreen measurement comeback.

Sources in the I&B Ministry said the government is examining concerns around proposed relaxations in cross-holding norms, which raise questions of conflict of interest.

“Some of the points raised by broadcasters are valid, especially around conflict of interest. While we are looking at their fears around impending advertisers’ control on measurement, we are cognisant of the fact that the current system is skewed towards broadcasters, even on paper. We will soon resolve this,” a senior government source said.

Soon after the government put up the draft amendments to the TRP guidelines, seeking stakeholder views on relaxing entry barriers for rating agencies, TAM India said it is preparing a comeback in the measurement business after more than a decade. The firm, which supplied television viewership data before being replaced by BARC India, is planning multiscreen measurement with various partners.

Large broadcasters, however, have formally raised concerns over the proposed relaxation of cross-holding rules. They have argued in recent submissions to the ministry that easing these limits could create conflicts of interest if media companies or advertisers gain influence over rating agencies, and could erode trust in viewership data.

Soon after that report, industry sources indicated there was a divided house within the IBDF and that it might not respond to the consultation at all.