Govt mulls opening up TRP market

The government on Thursday unveiled a new TRP (Television Rating Points) policy proposing to end the monopoly of Broadcast Audience Research Council and allow multiple agencies to measure viewing patterns to capture the trends better.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry  said entry

barriers were set to be removed to allow multiple agencies in television ratings measurement, to foster healthy competition, bring in new technologies and align with modern TV viewing habits

"New TRP policy draft aims to fix gaps in measuring streaming and mobile viewership, giving a tech refresh to the outdated ratings system. The Draft TRP guidelines are now open for public and stakeholder consultation for 30 days," the ministry said.

It said TV viewing habits in India have undergone a significant transformation in recent years and audiences now consume content not only through cable and DTH platforms but also via smart TVs, mobile applications, and other online streaming platforms. "The existing system for measuring viewership, Television Rating Points (TRP), does not fully capture these evolving patterns. In view of this, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has proposed amendments to the Policy Guidelines for Television Rating Agencies, originally issued in 2014. The proposed draft removes some restrictive provisions for media houses to allow more players besides the current BARC to democratise & modernise the television audience measurement ecosystem in India," government said.

India currently has approximately 230 million television households. However, only about 58,000 people meters are presently used to capture viewership data, representing just 0.025% of the total TV homes. This relatively limited sample size may not adequately represent the diverse viewing preferences across regions and demographics, officials said.

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