I&B Ministry
I&B ministry warns TV channels against airing content inciting violence
MUMBAI: In the wake of the ongoing CAA protests and Delhi riots, the ministry of information and broadcasting has issued an advisory to all private and satellite channels to be cautious with content which is likely to encourage or incite violence or contain anything against the maintenance of law and order or which promotes "anti-national attitudes".
TV channels are also advised to be cautious about airing content which contains attacks on religions or communities or visuals or words contemptuous of religious groups or which promotes communal attitudes.
The broadcaster must be careful before airing content which contains anything defamatory, deliberate, false or suggestive innuendos and half-truth.
The ministry has asked channels to ensure strict compliance of code and also ensure that no content is telecast which violate the programming and advertising code.
This is the second such advisory sent out by the ministry with the last one coming out in January.
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.
