News Broadcasting
NBF seeks clarity from BARC in TRP manipulation case
NEW DELHI: In a fresh turn of events in the TRP manipulation scam, News Broadcasters Federation (NBF) has sought clarification from the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) over the way the matter is being handled by the Mumbai police.
Last evening, NBF vice-president and Prag News CEO Sanjive Narain questioned the regulator on-air while speaking to Republic TV CEO and editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami on his show. He said, “The country deserves to know the structure of BARC and people who are running it. They are answerable not just to Republic TV but also 70-80 other news channels that they are monitoring. They have to come out with an open statement regarding the case.”
Further, he lambasted the Maharashtra government and the Mumbai police for their investigation in the case. He also raised questions on the legal stance on the dual-frequency issue as well.
“Running on dual-frequency was never a criminal offence and it still is not. No one can run their channels directly. They have to pay the carriage fee to the MSO. The MSO is the decision-maker. In case, if there was a TRAI regulation regarding this, you must be questioning the MSOs.”
He added that it seemed like the actions of the law enforcement authorities is a clear case of vendetta against the promoters of Republic Media.
Additionally, Twenty Four chief editor Sreekandan Nair pointed out that the matter of rigging ratings must be handled by either TRAI or BARC, and not by the Mumbai police.
The Republic has been caught in the eye of a storm after the Mumbai police publicly claimed to have unearthed a TRP manipulation racket in the city back in October. Since then, the channel's employees and members of the core management have been called in for questioning. 12 arrests have been made in the case, the latest being that of Republic CEO Vikas Khanchandani. The NBF had issued a statement calling Khanchandani's arrest and two-day remand in police custody "highly disturbing."
News Broadcasting
Book Cricket gets a digital century on News18 amid T20 fever
Nostalgic classroom game revamped in English, Hindi plus Telugu on web and app.
MUMBAI: When the T20 World Cup fever hits fever pitch, News18 decides to flip the script straight back to the classroom. The digital news platform has revived the timeless schoolyard favourite Book Cricket as an interactive online game, perfectly timed to ride the cricket wave gripping fans across the globe. The reimagined Book Cricket ditches textbooks for smartphones, blending old-school nostalgia with modern gameplay. Once a sneaky recess pastime played by flicking book pages to score runs, the digital version now offers seamless fun for anyone craving a quick cricket fix between overs.
Available in English, Hindi and Telugu (with more languages planned across News18’s network), the game sits within the platform’s fast-growing gaming portfolio of over 20 titles, all built in-house. It joins event-driven hits like ‘Kursi Catcher’ and ‘Result Rewind’ during the 2025 Bihar Assembly Elections, plus festive specials such as ‘Durga’s Astras’ for Durga Puja and ‘Mouse Modak’ for Ganesh Chaturthi.
News18 Digital CEO Mitul Sangani said, “Gaming is a key pillar of our engagement strategy. At News18, we uniquely combine our newsroom agility with immersive gaming experiences. By blending credible content with interactive formats, we are creating meaningful engagement in an era defined by shrinking attention spans and evolving consumption habits.”
Select titles have expanded beyond News18.com to CNBC-TV18.com and Firstpost.com, reflecting the network’s push to deepen user interaction across platforms. The Book Cricket game is live now at https://www.news18.com/games/book-cricket/.
In a tournament where every boundary counts, News18’s digital Book Cricket proves the simplest games can still deliver the biggest smiles no syllabus required, just pure cricket joy one page-flip at a time.
