Cochin: The Kerala High Court on Friday stayed the implementation of a key provision in the Centre’s TV Ratings Policy 2026 that barred viewership generated through landing pages from being counted in television ratings measurement, according to LiveLaw.
A single bench of Justice Bichu Thomas Kurian issued notice to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) and granted the Centre four weeks to file its response in the matter.
The petition challenging the provision was filed by the All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF) along with DEN Networks.
The interim stay specifically applies to the proviso under Clause 5.4.1 of the TV Ratings Policy 2026, which stated that “any viewership arising out of landing pages shall not be counted in viewership measurement” and that landing pages could be used only as a marketing tool.
The petitioners had sought interim relief against the operation and implementation of the impugned proviso, as well as the operational guidelines issued pursuant to the clause, pending disposal of the writ petition.
The development comes just days before BARC India was scheduled to implement the new landing page measurement protocols from Week 22. BARC had earlier informed subscribers that the revised protocols would apply to viewership data for the week of May 30 to June 5, 2026, with ratings slated for release on June 11.
With the High Court’s interim order now in place, the implementation timeline has been thrown into uncertainty.
What The Clause Said
The challenged provision formed part of the data adjustment and weighting framework under the TV Ratings Policy 2026. While the policy required all rating methodologies and weighting procedures to be systematic, logical and consistently applied, the proviso explicitly excluded landing page-generated viewership from audience measurement.
Landing pages refer to channels that automatically appear when viewers switch on their set-top boxes. The practice has long been controversial within the television industry, especially in the news broadcasting segment.
Broadcasters opposing landing pages have argued that such placements artificially inflate ratings because viewers are exposed to channels by default rather than through active selection. Distribution platform operators, on the other hand, have maintained that landing pages are a legitimate component of television distribution and marketing.
Earlier this year, the Ministry’s revised ratings framework attempted to resolve the long-running dispute by permitting landing pages to continue solely as a promotional tool while removing their contribution to television ratings.
BARC’s Operational Framework
Following the revised policy, BARC had issued detailed operational guidelines to broadcasters regarding the treatment of landing page viewership.
Under the framework, if a watermarked channel appeared on a landing page and became the first viewed channel in a viewing session, that viewership was to be excluded from ratings calculations. Similar treatment was proposed for watermarked barker pages, including both static and audio-visual formats.
BARC had clarified, however, that if the same channel was later viewed again through active viewer selection within the same session, such subsequent viewing would continue to be included in audience estimates.
The mechanism was designed to distinguish passive exposure from deliberate viewing behaviour.
Broadcasters were also directed to submit weekly declarations to BARC disclosing all landing page and barker page placements. These disclosures were to include details such as channel name, language, geography, operator information, placement duration, landing page position and slot-wise schedules where applicable.
BARC had said the submissions would be managed through a secure digital portal with dedicated login credentials for broadcasters.
Industry Implications
The Kerala High Court’s stay order is significant because the landing page exclusion was considered one of the most consequential reforms introduced under the TV Ratings Policy 2026.
The provision was expected to reshape television distribution and marketing strategies, particularly for channels that had heavily relied on landing page placements to drive reach and ratings performance.
The order could also have major implications for the news broadcasting segment, where disputes over landing page-driven ratings distortion have persisted for years.
Separately, the Ministry had earlier directed BARC to withhold publication of television ratings for news channels for four weeks or until further directions. That directive, however, was independent of the landing page implementation framework.
BARC’s recent communication to subscribers was restricted to the operational rollout of the landing page protocols and did not address the resumption timeline for news ratings.
The matter will now proceed before the Kerala High Court after the Ministry files its response. Meanwhile, industry attention is likely to remain focused on whether BARC proceeds with the planned Week 22 implementation in light of the interim stay.
