New Delhi: A special court in Lucknow has taken cognizance of the CBI charge sheet against former BARC CEO Sunil Lulla in connection with alleged manipulation in viewership data in 2020.
According to PTI, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) In its charge sheet has alleged that viewership data of India Today was manipulated by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to bring down India Today channel from number 2 to number 3.
The decision to bring down India Today TV channel from position two to three was made as per the instructions of Lulla, who had termed it a “business decision”, stated the charge sheet.
“The CBI has concluded that the manipulation of TRP data can be at two levels, which is either at the household level or at the BARC official level. At household levels the manipulation can happen through broadcasters, that is, TV channels approaching households where bar-o-metres are installed and asking them to watch a particular channel. At the BARC officials level the manipulation can happen at its Mumbai office where the viewership data lands on its servers from the bar-o-metres installed in selected households of the country,” the court noted citing the CBI findings.
The probe agency has carried out an exercise to detect manipulation at the household level by TV channels, but could not succeed in reaching any particular person approaching the households to influence them to watch any particular channel, it said.
The agency admitted that it has looked into the second probable area where manipulation is possible and has unearthed an instance where there is direct interference with the data on the instructions of the CEO, BARC, it said.
