BARC keeps TV News ratings on hold as MIB directive continues

MUMBAI: It is a case of ratings taking a rain check. Television news channels will have to wait longer for their weekly audience scores after the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) confirmed that it will not resume publishing TV news ratings this week because the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) directive suspending their release remains in force.

In a communication sent to subscribers, BARC said the ministry’s instructions requiring the suspension of television news ratings continue to apply. As a result, the audience data release for Week 25-26 will once again exclude all news channels, including English, Hindi and regional broadcasters.

“As we have informed you earlier, subsequent to instruction directions received from Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, BARC India has withheld the reporting of ratings of TV news channels,” the ratings body said in its communication.

It further added that the ministry’s directives continue to remain applicable and, consequently, the latest weekly data release “will not have data for all the news channels as in preceding weeks”. The suspension covers every television news genre across languages, in line with BARC’s policy.

The decision comes as a disappointment for broadcasters that had expected weekly ratings to return after the initial four-week suspension ended on June 28. However, with the ministry yet to withdraw its directive, the blackout will continue until further instructions are issued.

The extended pause also has financial implications for the audience measurement body. According to media reports, BARC has written to the ministry requesting the withdrawal of a separate directive that bars it from charging subscription fees to news broadcasters during the ratings blackout.

BARC has reportedly argued that although ratings are not being made public, it continues to bear substantial operational costs to maintain its audience measurement panel, collect viewing data, process information and run the underlying measurement infrastructure.

The ministry had earlier instructed BARC not to bill news broadcasters while ratings remained unavailable, taking the position that subscribers should not be charged for a service whose outputs were temporarily suspended. The move was seen as an unusual intervention in the commercial relationship between the industry-owned ratings body and its subscribers, prompting wider discussion within the broadcasting sector over the extent of regulatory involvement in BARC’s commercial operations.

For now, television news channels remain off the weekly ratings scoreboard. Until the ministry revises its position, broadcasters, advertisers and media planners will have to navigate the news market without one of its most closely watched performance metrics.