Mumbai/ Nagpur : Three channels including Republic TV are being investigated for ratings or TRP manipulation, the Mumbai police said today. Two persons have been arrested. One of them is a former employee of an agency that installed “people metres” to assess ratings.
Officials of Republic TV – which claims the highest TRPs or Television Rating Points among news channels – will be summoned today or tomorrow, said the officer.
According to the Mumbai police, the investigation is part of a larger analysis on manipulation of news trends and how a “false narrative” was spread. The information has been shared with the central government, they said.
Mumbai police chief Paramvir Singh said the bank accounts of the channels would be investigated, besides the funds they receive from advertisers and “whether they are from proceeds of crimes”. More channels could also be examined, he said.
“Anyone involved in the channel, no matter how top management, how senior, will be questioned, and if involved they will be investigated,” he said.
If any crime was revealed, the accounts would be seized and more action would be taken, Mr Singh said.
“Household data were used by the channels for ratings manipulation and they received illegal advertising funds. This will be considered proceeds of cheating,” said the police chief.
“There was false TRP spreading. TRP ratings were being bought. The manipulation was mainly for advertising revenues,” he added.
As part of this, households were told to keep a certain channel switched on all the time. “Illiterate homes were asked to keep English channels on,” Mr Singh said.
The households were offered monthly payments of ₹ 4-500 in return.
