Recommendations of panel on TRP remain unimplemented

In a recent meeting, senior government officials had pointed out to representatives of Television industry that a High Powered Committee(HPC) had not been set up within the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) as per the recommendations of the TRP committee.

Sources told PTI that much before private channel NDTV moved court or state Broadcaster Prasar Bharati expressed unease over the issue of TAM ratings, the government in May, 2010 set up a committee to make the viewership measurement system transparent, realistic and broadbased.

The committee which was chaired by FICCI secretary general Amit Mitra had felt that self regulation of TRPs by the TV industry was the best way forward.

The committee had noted that an industry initiative BARC was in existence and suggested that within it, a High Powered Committee (HPC) should be created which would work in the area of TRP research, design and analysis.

The committee had also laid that the recommendations of the HPC would be binding on BARC, unless rejected by two- third of the board members.

Sources said that as most of the recommendations were to be implemented by the Broadcasting industry, the report was sent to the Indian Broadcasting Federation in 2011.

However, despite the report and recommendations of senior Information and Broadcasting ministry officials, the HPC had not been formed.

The sources said that the BARC had sent a response to the I&B Ministry in October last year saying that they were not in a position to set up the HPC as suggested but only in a purely