The dog that did not BARC
Mumbai police investigation into Republic TV ratings scam raises more questions than it answers, even as Broadcast Audience Research Council’s credibility lies in shreds.
Why read this story?
Editor's note: Update: Earlier today, The Economic Times published a report on a forensic audit commissioned by BARC in 2020. The audit, conducted by Acquisory Risk Consultancy (ARC), has often been highlighted by Mumbai Police as evidence in establishing tampering and bribery charges against former CEO and COO of BARC and Republic TV management, and so far, has remained a mystery in the case. In its report, the Economic Times says, “…ARC (Acquisory Risk Consultancy) has concluded that deep investigation and analysis of data threw up multiple instances of viewership ratings distortion. (These are in English news as well as Telugu news genre). Direct involvement of former COO Romil Ramgarhia also comes out clearly in the forensic investigation as the report points out that he was in the know of the ratings being changed to favour a particular channel (Republic TV, though the report hasn’t mentioned the channel by name)... ARC has said in its report that former BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta was aware of the manipulation of the ratings and process violation that was going on in BARC and may have …
More in Business
You may also like
Urban Company’s customer ratings are squeezing its workers
Partners working for the home services company are up against an opaque ratings system and a cancellation policy centred around meeting unreasonable expectations.
Shark Tank India is reality TV, not really venture funding
Sony Entertainment’s reality series is under fire for on-air investment deals not coming through. We look at the other side of the story.
BluSmart gears up for expansion
India’s only all-electric ride-hailing company has announced a fresh fundraise to expand fleet capacity; separately, news channels resist a government diktat on ‘national interest’.
