Kerala High Court to Hear Landing Page Ratings Dispute After Centre Seeks Urgent Listing
The Kerala High Court will hear the landing page ratings dispute on June 8 after the Centre sought an urgent hearing on the Television Ratings Policy 2026.
SociapaHQ
The Kerala High Court will hear the issue of landing page viewership in TV ratings on June 8 after the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) sought urgent hearing to challenge an interim stay that has stayed implementation of key provisions under the Television Ratings Policy 2026.
The matter had been scheduled to be heard June 19. However, the Centre approached the court for an early listing and vacation of the interim order passed on May 22 restraining authorities from enforcing provisions that exclude landing page generated viewership from television audience measurement.
According to reports, broadcasters, advertisers and distribution platforms are watching the case closely since it could set the tone for how television ratings are measured in India going forward.
Also Read: Amazon, Zomato, Swiggy, Zepto and Meesho Form Digital Commerce Coalition
Ratings Reform:
Under the new ratings policy, audiences created by a channel automatically popping up on a television screen on startup or through a landing page would not be included in official ratings.
The government has argued that passive viewing such as this exposure is not a conscious choice by the audience and can skew the results of audience measurement.
The interim stay has put the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC)’s plans to implement audience measurement protocols as per the revised policy on hold.
Also Read: Meta Launches AI-Powered Creator Assistant on Facebook, Expands AI Translation Features
Stakeholder Clash:
Operational guidelines had been issued by BARC on the treatment of landing page impressions under the new framework even before the intervention of the court.
Industry stakeholders say the battle is especially important to television news channels, many of which have long lobbied for a way to calculate ratings excluding viewership that comes only from being on a landing page.
Broadcasters say such viewership can artificially boost ratings and impact audience rankings and advertising decisions.
The legal challenge was filed by All India Digital Cable Federation and DEN Networks.
The petitioners contend that landing pages are a legitimate distribution and promotional tool and argue that excluding such viewership from ratings calculations could reduce their commercial value.
They have also maintained that the revised policy indirectly touches upon issues related to channel placement regulations that are already under consideration before the Supreme Court.
