New Delhi: The News broadcasting industry was buzzing with rumours of another rating holiday and NBF’s letter to information and broadcasting minister requesting no disruption in the publishing of ratings for the news genre has added fuel to the topic.
Subsequently, many industry leaders started opining their concerns against such attempts to impede weekly viewership ratings for News channels similar to the one which was imposed in October 2020 which was resumed after 17 months in March 2022.
Expressing his distress over the consequences of such move Barun Das, MD and CEO, TV9 Network and Vice President, NBF said, “Any attempt of stalling the BARC ratings will be suicidal for the news genre. In absence of any ratings, advertisers will not be comfortable playing blind and accordingly allocation of budget in the news genre will certainly shrink. Any disruption of ratings will not only make the genre highly uncompetitive, but it would also ensure that the free market is completely skewed.”
“The prospect of singling out of the news industry once again and subjecting it to constant disruptions has a grave impact on the functioning of an industry that is rooted in being a democratic public service that informs the people at large. While News Channels are subjected to repeated disruptions in having access to published weekly ratings, Sports channels and GECs do not face such hindrances.” added Das.
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