Kerala HC clears way for MIB’s TV ratings overhaul on landing pages

MUMBAI: The remote may not have changed hands, but the ratings rulebook just did. The Kerala High Court has cleared the way for the Centre to implement one of the most significant changes to India’s television measurement system, vacating its interim stay on the Television Ratings Policy, 2026 provision that excludes landing-page and boot-up screen viewership from official TV ratings.

In an order delivered on Friday, Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas lifted the interim protection that had been in place since May in petitions filed by the All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF) and DEN Networks, both of which had challenged the landing-page provisions of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s (MIB) new policy.

The ruling follows detailed hearings over the past week, during which the Centre, the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), AIDCF and DEN Networks debated whether the policy was effectively seeking to introduce, through executive action, restrictions that remain under challenge before the Supreme Court in a separate case involving the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

During the final hearing on 21 July, senior advocate Arun Kathpalia, appearing for AIDCF, argued that the issues before the Kerala High Court and the Supreme Court were “identical”. He contended that the Centre could not achieve through policy what TRAI had previously attempted through executive directions.

Kathpalia rejected the Centre’s submission that the two proceedings dealt with different issues, pointing to TRAI’s own civil appeal before the Supreme Court. He argued that the regulator had consistently maintained that channels displayed on landing pages receive an unfair ratings advantage because viewers are automatically exposed to them when televisions are switched on.

According to him, the central issue before the apex court was not TRAI’s authority to regulate landing pages, but whether such powers could be exercised through executive directions under Section 13 of the TRAI Act, rather than through statutory regulations framed under Section 36.

He further argued that the Television Ratings Policy, 2026 effectively sought to revive restrictions that the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) had earlier held must be introduced only through formal regulations following a consultative process.

“They are trying to do indirectly what cannot be done directly,” Kathpalia had submitted during the hearing.

The Centre, however, defended the policy as an independent reform aimed at improving the credibility of television audience measurement. It argued that viewers exposed to channels automatically through landing pages or boot-up screens are not making an active viewing choice and that such impressions should not contribute to official television ratings.

The dispute centres on the MIB’s decision to exclude landing-page and boot-up viewership from BARC India’s ratings system. AIDCF and DEN Networks maintain that such viewing reflects genuine audience behaviour and should continue to be included in television measurement.

The litigation has also had far-reaching consequences for the broadcasting industry. Following the introduction of the policy, the Ministry directed BARC India to suspend publication of its weekly television ratings until the revised framework could be implemented, leaving broadcasters, advertisers, media agencies and distribution platforms without the audience data used for media planning, inventory pricing and advertising decisions.

With the interim stay now vacated, the Ministry is expected to proceed with implementing the landing-page exclusion unless a higher court grants further relief, bringing India’s television ratings system a step closer to one of its most significant structural changes in recent years.