NEW DELHI: The Broadcast Audience Research Council is looking into the option of postponing the date for resuming TRP ratings as various news television channels have given different suggestions on the period during which it should be released, sources in the information and broadcasting ministry said on Thursday.
Television monitoring agency BARC had in February announced it will resume the ratings on March 17.
In October 2020, it had "temporarily suspended" the ratings on the news genre following a 'cash for ratings' scam allegedly involving top executives of a private news channel.
The sources said that different news channels have been demanding the release of TRP rating data from different periods.
Some have asked that only data collected from mid-March be released, while others have suggested, data of previous three months be released, they said.
Different bodies of TV news channels have also expressed their views, the sources said.
So, the ministry is looking into the option on whether to extend the date for TRP ratings' resumption, they said.
Speaking on resumption of the ratings, News Broadcasters' Federation secretary general R Jai Krishna said, "We at the NBF, the largest industry body of news broadcasters, are confident on the changes at BARC and eagerly look forward to the 16-month imbroglio around audience measurement of news channels to end."
"The lives and livelihood of hundreds of journalists and news media personnel as well as the future of 400 plus news channels have been put at stake for the undue benefit of a few legacy channels, who have been challenged by new comers. March 17, 2022, will be a landmark for news channels to start a new beginning in their pursuit of good journalism and produce public interest stories," he said in a statement.
The audience estimates given by BARC influence advertisement spends.
The total size of advertisement placements was pegged at Rs 32,000 crore annually by the Mumbai Police, which had arrested many people in connection with the alleged scam.
The police had alleged that the ratings were being rigged by inducing the homes where the monitors were placed.