Government Comes Down Heavily On Usage Of Forced Viewership Measurement Tactic, Pushes For Total Overhaul Of TV Rating Policy

New Delhi: In a huge move aimed to bring transparency and level playing field in the way television ratings are measured, the government on Friday banned landing pages for viewership audience measurement. The reform, which is designed to enhance transparency and curb monopolistic tendencies, is part of the TV Rating Policy 2026 notified by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB).

The move is a big win for channels that ride on pure content and a blow for those banking on marketing tools.

The policy defines clear standards for the registration, operation, audit and oversight of agencies providing TV rating services, with the aim to ensure transparency, independence and  accountability in audience management.

Republic Media Network Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami hailed the exclusion of landing page viewership from measurement. He said that all monopolistic tendencies are bad and that landing pages were essentially a way of paying money and getting viewership. He added quite candidly that together with other members of the News Broadcasters Federation, he had been very strongly lobbying against the terrible practice of landing pages.

“It can't be that you have a lot of money, so you put your money to buy viewership. And most important, the rating agency…will now be compelled not to measure landing pages. And I hope that after this, this will introduce a new wave of democracy in the news broadcasting business in our country. This will allow fresh talent to do well. This will encourage journalists to focus on content. And this will, most importantly, restore the importance of the editors. Eventually, it is the editors who must control the destiny of news organisations. And the government's decision is fantastic. More than that, I think there will be many more rating agencies which will happen. Multiplicity is good. Monopoly is bad,” Goswami added.

Key Highlights Of The Policy

1. Ease In Entry Norms: The net worth requirement for a company willing to register as a TV rating agency has been reduced from existing Rs. 20 Crores to 5 crores.
2. Strict Anti-Conflict Measures: To ensure neutrality, the Policy provides that at least 50% of the Board of Directors must be Independent Directors with no ties to broadcasters /advertisers/advertising agencies. Additionally, agencies are prohibited from engaging in consultancy roles that could create conflicts of interest.
3. Enhanced Sample Size and Representative Data: To improve data accuracy, agencies must scale up their operations to 80,000 metered homes within 18 months (6 months for existing rating agencies), eventually reaching 1,20,000 homes. Measurement must be technology-neutral, capturing data across Cable, DTH, OTT, and Connected TVs. The data shall be captured from all the TV viewing screens of the metered homes.
4. Transparency and Privacy: Agencies are required to publish their detailed methodology and anonymized data on their websites. Furthermore, all operations must strictly comply with the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 to safeguard viewer privacy.
5. Accountability and Audits: A dual-audit system is now mandatory, featuring quarterly internal audits and annual independent external audits. The Ministry will also constitute an Audit & Oversight Team for periodic field inspections.
6. Grievance Redressal: Agencies must appoint a Nodal Officer to resolve complaints within 10 days and establish an Appellate Authority for escalated disputes.
7. Landing Page Exclusions and Disclosure Requirements: Any viewership arising out of Landing Page not to be counted in the viewership measurement. However, Landing Page can be used only as a marketing tool. The Broadcasters shall disclose the availability of its channel on the landing page, if any, to the rating Agency.
8. Compliance and Penalties: Non-compliance will attract graded penalties, ranging from temporary suspensions of ratings to the cancellation of registration for repeat violations.
9. Platforms Allowed to Publish Viewership Data: TV Distribution Platforms or OTT platforms may publish periodic viewership data of broadcasters/channels being played on their platforms, on their websites, without obtaining registration or permission under these guidelines.

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