MIB Reportedly Tells BARC to Waive Fees for News Broadcasters During Ratings Freeze

As television news ratings continue to be suspended, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has asked the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to not charge news broadcasters subscription fees.

The ministry has also communicated to news channels that they should not be billed for audience measurement services during the period they are unable to get Television Rating Point (TRP) data, media reports quoting industry executives said.

The reported move follows a long freeze in television news ratings that has deprived broadcasters of one of the industry’s most important tools for measuring audience performance and attracting advertising revenue.

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BARC Controversy:

Industry executives said the ministry’s position is that broadcasters should not have to pay for a service not available to them at this time.

The order is expected to provide some financial breathing space for news networks that have been operating without weekly audience ratings for several months.

But the move has also sparked a debate in the media industry on the extent of government’s role in the functioning of BARC, an industry-owned body that measures audience.

Some stakeholders reportedly expressed concern that guidance on subscription fees could be viewed as another intervention in the commercial affairs of the ratings organisation.

The decision comes after the ministry last week extended the suspension of television news ratings by another four weeks.

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Policy Changes:

BARC had informed its subscribers that it will continue to hold back audience data for news channels until it gets further directions from the government.

The ratings blackout was introduced earlier this year because of concerns from television news channels about sensationalism and speculative reporting. The suspension has been extended several times, leading to an unprecedented situation where news broadcasters are operating without access to current audience measurement data.

The issue has come to light amid wider reforms to India's television audience measurement system.

The government has proposed a set of measures to improve transparency in the calculation of ratings under the Television Rating Policy, 2026. This includes the exclusion of viewership on “landing pages” from the metrics for measuring audience.

The provision has since been challenged in courts and is now under examination after interim stay granted by the Kerala High Court.

Industry observers say the lack of ratings for such a long time has made media planning and advertising decisions more challenging for broadcasters, advertisers and agencies, forcing them to depend on historical trends, market intelligence and their relationships with clients, rather than current audience data.