Mumbai Police busted major racket for manipulating TRP
Mumbai: Nearly three months after the Mumbai Police busted a major racket for manipulating Television Rating Points (TRP), On Friday, details of the investigation have revealed that former CEO of the BARC Partho Dasgupta, who was arrested on Thursday, has facilitated mal-practices with other TV News channels to degrade the ratings of Times Now and other English news channel, reported.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Milind Bharambe said that BARC ratings were manipulated to push English News Channel Times Now to the number two position and make Republic TV the number one news channel.
Similarly, another English News Channel CNN-IBN was pushed to the third rank from its second position.
Mumbai Police said “Times Now was the number one channel, and within a week after Republic TV was launched in 2016, BARC officials convicted with each other and pushed Times Now to the No-2 and CNN-IBN to the No-3 slot”
The manipulation came out in a forensic audit carried out by the Broadcast Audience Research Council in June this year, but the findings were not shared with the police, which launched an investigation in October.
The TRP scam tool place when Dasgupta was the head of the BARC from 2013 to 2019. During that period, many tried to expose the manipulation that was being done but whistleblowers were clinically suppressed. he has now been taken in the custody till December 28, Times Now reported.
Read : Congress expels former Assam Minister from Party
Mumbai: Crime branch arrests 29-year-old for killing contractor in Bangur Nagar
Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh urges Mumbaikars to wear masks ‘correctly’
Bombay High Court suspends FIRs against Arnab Goswami
Murderous attack on Arnab Goswami ; an act of exasperation
