TRP manipulation case: CBI registers FIR after UP govt hands over probe

The primary allegations relate to manipulation of TRPs on a payment, they said.

TRP or Television Rating Points of a channel or programme are used to measure popularity by advertising agencies which affect pricing.

TRPs represent how many people, from which socio-economic categories, watched which channels for how much time during a particular period. This could be for an hour, a day, or even a week.

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The data is usually made public every week and form the basis of claims by channels to being the “most-watched” over that period.

The points are calculated in India by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) using a device installed in over 45,000 households across the country called “Bar-O-Meter”.

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Recently, Mumbai Police had said it had busted a “racket” of “fraudulent” manipulation of Television Rating Points (TRPs) involving three channels including Arnab Goswami’s Republic TV.

Six people have been arrested by the police in the scam, which allegedly involves inducing homes which form the sample set whose TV viewing is monitored to ensure that certain channels get higher ratings.