Minister of state for information and broadcasting L Murugan said, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, that any entity engaged in television ratings must comply with the additional requirements prescribed under the new policy and obtain registration before offering its services.
“As on date, no entity is registered under the new policy,” the minister said. “The Television Ratings Policy, 2026 places no restriction on the number of agencies that may be registered to provide TV rating services.”
An official in the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) told ET that the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) is yet to meet the eligibility criteria of having independent directors comprise at least a third of its board.
The official added that BARC would also have to meet other provisions of the new policy, including implementing cross-media audience measurement covering connected TVs, expanding its panel to 80,000 people meters, and excluding landing-page impressions from the final television viewership data before TV ratings services can resume.
BARC on July 2 informed subscribers about the suspension of the publication of weekly television ratings following a directive from the MIB. The council was advised by the ministry against publishing weekly TV ratings until it gets permission under the new TV Ratings Policy 2026.
The Kerala High Court on Friday vacated its interim stay on Clause 5.4.1 of the Television Ratings Policy, 2026, which excludes landing-page viewership from Television Rating Points (TRPs). The stay, granted in May, had given interim relief to cable operators, who argued that excluding landing-page impressions would hurt a key source of revenue.
The high court’s decision had raised industry expectations that television ratings would resume soon. However, broadcasters remain divided over whether landing-page impressions should be included in audience measurement. The Television Ratings Policy, 2026 replaced the guidelines for television rating agencies in India issued on January 16, 2014. It lays down a comprehensive framework for the registration, operation, audit and oversight of television ratings agencies.