After alleged WhatsApp chats between Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami and former Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) came into the public domain, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has written to BARC saying that television ratings of news channels should continue to be suspended in light of the recent revelations.
In its letter to BARC, the association said that it demands that Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) membership of Republic TV should be suspended with immediate effect till the case related to manipulation of ratings is pending in the court.
"NBA Board is also of the view that the manipulation of ratings by Republic TV has immensely damaged the reputation of the broadcast industry and therefore it should be kept out of BARC rating system till final court order," NBA said further in the letter.
It demanded that BARC should make a clear statement about the veracity of its ratings in the period during the audit and also conduct an audit of the Hindi news genre. It should also remove the data of the erring broadcaster and restate the real position of rankings of all news channels from the beginning.
"Explain the concrete steps that have been taken by BARC in the last three months to secure the ratings. Bring transparency to the process and create a system whereby any changes to the ratings that impacts the news ecosystem is done only after due consultation with a BARC Sub Committee of NBA nominees," NBA further demanded in its letter to BARC.
NBA also asked BARC to explain what penal actions are provided for in the BARC constitution against broadcasters who have indulged in manipulation of ratings of this magnitude and what action will be taken in the current case.
The NBA’s board in its letter said the corrupt data released month after month has not only led to reputation loss but has also caused huge financial losses to news broadcasters.