I&B Ministry
I&B ministry asks TV channels to publicise travel advisory for COVID-19 affected countries
MUMBAI: The deadly corona virus with its epicentre in Wuhan, China has slowly crept into several parts of the world. Just this week, cases of Indians who have contracted this infectious disease came to light and put the government on alert. The health ministry has finally issued an advisory regarding Covid-19 and the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) has requested the electronic media to help spread the message.
“Electronic media has always been in the forefront to carry such message as it is a powerful tool to reach out to the people across the country. In order to make this effort successful, it has been felt that support, assistance and contribution of TV channels and FM radio channels will be of immense use,” the advisory reads.
The following are the tickers TV channels are advised to carry:
1. Indian citizens are advised to refrain from travel to China, Iran, Republic of Korea, Italy and Japan.
2. Indian citizens are advised to avoid travel to other COVID-19 affected countries.
3. Passengers coming from abroad to India need to furnish duly filled self-declaration form and travel history to health and immigration officials at all ports and airports.
4. For any health-related query call at ministry of health and family welfare, GOI’s 24X7 control room number +91-11-23978046 or email at ncov2019@gmail.com.
“Keeping in view the significance and meaningfulness of this cause, all private satellite news TV channels and their associations are requested to give adequate publicity to the revised travel advisory issued by the ministry of health and family welfare,” it adds.
MUMBAI: When the numbers go silent, the noise on screen gets a little harder to measure. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has extended the suspension of television rating data for news channels, directing Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to withhold TRPs for another four weeks. The latest order, issued on March 31, 2026, builds on an earlier directive from March 6 that had paused ratings for a month. The ministry has clarified that the blackout will continue for four weeks or until further instructions are issued whichever comes earlier keeping the industry in a prolonged state of data drought.
The reasoning, officials suggest, lies far beyond domestic screens. With geopolitical tensions in West Asia continuing to escalate, the government has flagged concerns over how such developments could influence news consumption and presentation. The move is aimed at curbing excessive sensationalism and speculative coverage during what it describes as a sensitive global moment.
For the broadcast ecosystem, the absence of Television Rating Points (TRPs) is more than symbolic, it removes the industry’s primary scorecard. Ratings dictate advertising flows, shape editorial strategies and fuel the competitive pecking order among news channels. Without them, broadcasters are effectively operating without a public performance benchmark.
The timing only adds to the complexity. Amid a high-intensity global news cycle, channels must now navigate audience engagement without the weekly feedback loop that typically drives programming decisions. Advertisers, too, are left recalibrating, leaning on proxies such as brand strength, reach and distribution instead of hard viewership data.
While framed as a temporary regulatory intervention tied to maintaining public order, the extended suspension underscores a broader unease about the tone and direction of news coverage. For now, the ratings race is on pause but the battle for attention continues, just without a scoreboard.
