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ED gives clean chit to Republic TV in TRP rigging case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has cleared Republic TV and R Bharat of the charge of manipulating the television rating point (TRP) numbers

Published on: Sept 21, 2022 10:39 pm IST
By , Mumbai
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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has cleared Republic TV and R Bharat of the charge of manipulating the television rating point (TRP) numbers. It has, however, not yet concluded its probe against two other news channels - News Nation and India Today.

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Last week, the agency filed a chargesheet in the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court, naming 16 accused, which included directors of Box Cinema, Fakt Marathi and Maha Movies channels and several relationship managers (RMs) associated with Hansa Research Group, a contractor employed by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), a ratings agency.

The ED claimed that it had examined the role of Republic channels and found that the investigation carried out by the Mumbai police was “at variance with the probe done by the ED”.

First, the agency said, raw data for the panel households who were allegedly watching Republic channels (as per the police chargesheet) was sought from BARC. “An analysis of viewership pattern showed that these households were watching channels other than Republic TV and R Bharat.”

The agency has, however, said there have been instances of TRP manipulation. “There was a wider conspiracy between channel viewers, agents and RMs to influence/induce the panel households to watch certain channels for monetary gains. The malice seems to be deeper as indicated by several FIRs lodged by BARC in various states,” the chargesheet said.

The ED began its probe based on a case registered by the Kandivli police on October 6, 2020.

 
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