NDTV Pulls Out Of BARC Ahead Of News Rating Resumption

News broadcaster NDTV, which owns and operates NDTV 24x7 and NDTV India, has pulled out of Broadcasters Audience Research Council (BARC) India's rating system.

While confirming the development to exchange4media, NDTV Group President Suparna Singh said, "NDTV has repeatedly pointed out that a far larger sample (of meters) is needed if BARC is serious about ensuring a measurement process that cannot be rigged or manipulated."

NDTV, she added, has been pointing out the various infirmities in the system for years before the rating scandal exploded. "Unfortunately, the changes that BARC is offering as it resumes reporting TRPs are alarmingly insubstantial."

Suparna also noted that the broadcaster doesn't find it feasible to subscribe to BARC India's rating system till it is reconfigured. BARC, she said, needs to install more meters and become far more transparent.

"Both ethically and from the crucial point of view of our business, we cannot participate in a system that is acknowledged as corrupt but shows no sign of change," she said.

As per media reports, BARC India is also considering postponing the data of resuming the release of news ratings as various news channels have submitted to the audience measurement body suggestions on the period of release.

While some channels have reportedly said the data released should be from mid-March, others have suggested that the data should be for the previous three months only.

Earlier, BARC India had announced that it would resume the release of viewership data for individual news channels from March 17.

It has come up with a new methodology as per which the data for news and special interest channels will be based on ADRS or a four-week rolling average.