If you want to know how popular your television show is, how much attention it is grabbing, TRP is there for you. It is an index of 'prestige' that counts for enthralling potential advertising revenues.
That TRP or Television rating point has suddenly come into limelight when the Mumbai Police have notified about the resurgence of a 'fake' TRP scam. The police have identified three channels Republic TV, Fakth Marathi, and Box Cinema for money-induced TRP scam.
Some of the readers may think this is a new thing on the plate, a unique headline we are trying to make.
Reality is far different than this.
This TRP business is by far the most open market scam you can ever witness. It is so old and so many times the TRP is incited by external factors that this has become a cog in a gargantuan system. Yes. The TRP scam is not a new thing. From the moment of introduction of this premium-meter in, the doorway to illegally use it opened up. Going down to the 2000 era you will find the illegal influence over the TRP was also present there.
Many times this TRP scam goes under the police radar, media sights, and public notice. The bigger players of the market continue to buy fake TRP by providing a lump sum amount of the ISP's even sometimes directly to the viewers!
Why the TRP system is so flawed to be utilized illegally?
BARC, the government-controlled organization The answer lies in the number of measured television sets. There is a total number of 20 crores television sets. While BARC samples only 44,000 television to calculate the TRP of the channels and it's contents. That is only 0.022% percent of total viewers!
That is the reason it is so easy to induce the TRP with proper money in proper hands.
As we have told this is not new. Many media channels, entertainment giants continue to practice this unfair practice under the table.
High TRP means more advertising which translates to 'more money'. News media is very much dependent on these advertisement revenues. But that shouldn't allow them to practice irrational ways.
BARC should not be spared for this system. When the country is trying to be more vigilant towards every aspect, this kind of huge let-off just diminishes the over-all sentiment.
Why BARC didn't think to increase the number of sampling? Who is the main mastermind behind this scam?
None knows. Given the past record, surely the big fish like Arnab Goswami will never be required to stand in a courtroom, clarifying the 'actual' story. It will be small fries like employees of a private agency.
