This refers to the article “Why TV ratings need to be left alone” by Vanita Kohli-Khandekar (January 18). It seems the agencies that come out with TRPs for various television programmes do so on the basis of data collected from a poor sample that cannot be taken seriously. The whole business of TRPs appears to be a sham. It is unfortunate that broadcasters and advertisers use unreliable data to decide which programmes are “popular”. It is time they switched to more direct surveys of television viewership, covering larger representative samples.
Also, the role of television as a medium of social and value education is being forgotten in these days of rampant commercialisation of TV broadcasting.
It is time for the corporate world to reduce its dependence on television for advertising and revert to the good old ways of marketing such as distribution of free samples and leaflets, product demonstrations at
homes and offices, street shows and direct marketing campaigns through personal contacts with prospective consumers.
Kishor Kulkarni, Mumbai
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