Accused Of Manipulating TRP By Mumbai Police Commissioner, Republic TV Warns It'll File Criminal Case Against The Officer

Yesterday, the Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh made a shocking revelation about one of the most-watched channels in India, Republic TV that this franchise has manipulated their television rating points in Mumbai. The authority also informs that they have collected adequate evidence to conclude that Republic TV, Fakt Marathi and Box Cinema have tampered with TRP data. Talking further, he said the Mumbai police would summon Republic TV employees for investigation.

Higher viewership, higher ad price

In the official press note, the Detection Crime Branch of Mumbai emphasizes that the false data of TRP that Republic TV publicizes result in the loss of hundreds of crores for the advertisers who have to suffer much higher ad rate due to the fake TRP.

To be specific, the preliminary investigation reveals that Republic TV has paid their barometer users an amount of money periodically to watch some TV channels or programs in particular. These individuals then keep their TV sets on even when they are not interested in the shows broadcast on this channel.

Mumbai police have registered an offence at Kandivali Police Station for this act. The department also affirms that they won’t be hesitant to summon chief personnel at Republic TV namely directors of this channel for further investigation. Four people have been arrested so far.

More than the loss for advertisement industry

In the press conference yesterday, Mr. Param Bir Singh shares a lot of consequences, either direct or indirect, resulting from the manipulated TRP data. He said that it not only leads to higher ad price that advertisers suffered, it also badly affects other TV channels in India.

The fact that barometer users were hired to turn certain channels on even when they don’t watch it is clearly unfair for other programs. Even when other channels produce engaging content, they might not have as high viewership as Republic TV.

Also, the police also said that there was a campaign against Mumbai Police on social media which was infused by some TV channels. Accordingly, Republic TV is probably among the names under scanner for the defamation campaign towards the authority.

Reactions from Republic TV

Though Mumbai police confirmed they had collected evidence of the TRP manipulation, the editor-in-chief of Republic TV Arnab Goswani insisted that:

“Param Bir Singh has made false allegations against Republic TV because we have questioned him in the Sushant Singh Rajput case investigation. Republic TV will file a criminal defamation case against him.”

Not sure how the Mumbai police will force Republic TV to admit the act but the authorities will surely need solid evidence to prove their standpoint.

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