Kerala HC reserves verdict on TV ratings policy landing page dispute

MUMBAI: The fight over television ratings has reached its final act for now, the remote is in the court’s hands. The Kerala High Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on the challenge to the landing-page provisions of the Television Ratings Policy 2026, with a decision expected by the end of the week after an extended hearing that saw broadcasters accuse the Centre of attempting to revive, through executive policy, what TRAI could not enforce through its earlier landing-page directions.

Appearing for the All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF) and DEN Networks, senior advocate Arun Kathpalia argued that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s policy seeks to achieve “indirectly what cannot be done directly”, even as similar legal questions remain pending before the Supreme Court.

Rejecting the Centre’s submission that the present dispute is distinct from the proceedings before the apex court, Kathpalia contended that TRAI’s own civil appeal demonstrates that both cases revolve around the same legal issues.

He argued that TRAI has consistently maintained before the Supreme Court that channels placed on landing pages receive an unfair ratings advantage because they are automatically displayed when viewers switch on their television sets.

According to Kathpalia, the core issue before the Supreme Court is not whether TRAI has the authority to regulate landing pages, but whether it can exercise that authority through directions issued under Section 13 of the TRAI Act rather than statutory regulations framed under Section 36.

Referring to Ground M of TRAI’s appeal, Kathpalia said the regulator itself has challenged the TDSAT ruling that restrictions on channel placement must be introduced through statutory regulations. He also cited Ground Z, where TRAI argues that channels appearing on landing pages receive preferential treatment because viewers are exposed to them automatically, regardless of their viewing preference.

He submitted that the legal questions framed in the Supreme Court appeals—including whether channel placement falls within TRAI’s regulatory powers and whether those powers can be exercised through administrative directions instead of formal regulations—are identical to those raised in the challenge to the Television Ratings Policy.

Kathpalia further relied on the Supreme Court’s interim order staying enforcement of TRAI’s landing-page directions while preserving the regulator’s jurisdiction over channel placement issues, arguing that the Ministry is now attempting to secure through executive policy the very outcome that remains under judicial scrutiny.

He also disputed the Centre’s argument that TDSAT had ruled TRAI lacked jurisdiction over landing-page regulation. Instead, he said the tribunal merely held that any such regulation must follow a transparent consultative process and be implemented through statutory regulations rather than executive directions.

The dispute centres on the Ministry’s Television Ratings Policy 2026, which excludes viewership generated through landing pages and boot-up screens from BARC India’s television ratings. AIDCF and DEN Networks contend that such viewing reflects genuine audience behaviour and should continue to be included in television measurement.

The matter was last heard on 13 July, when the Kerala High Court adjourned proceedings to 21 July while extending its interim stay on implementation of the disputed provision.

The Centre has defended the policy as an effort to improve the integrity of television audience measurement, arguing that viewers who are automatically shown a channel when a set-top box starts are not making an active viewing choice and that such impressions should not influence ratings.

The litigation has already had far-reaching consequences for the broadcasting industry. Following the rollout of the policy, the Ministry directed BARC India to suspend publication of its weekly television ratings until the revised framework comes into effect, leaving broadcasters, advertisers and media agencies without the industry’s primary audience measurement currency for media planning, inventory pricing and campaign evaluation.