No TRPs for Four Weeks: No More Sensationalism?

India is the largest democratic nation in the world, and in accordance with this, there is never short of sensationalism and desperate attempts to grab the attention of viewers by certain media channels. 

This was earlier observed in the case of a sensitive scenario during the Pahalgam attack and subsequent operation Sindoor. Several news channels prepared controversial and sensational video footage to create panic amongst viewers just for the sake of views and TV ratings. 

And now that the world is undergoing a significant turmoil in the Middle East due to the ongoing conflict between Usa and Iran, the Indian broadcast ministry has taken a strong position.

In the public interest, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting hereby directed BARC to immediately withhold reporting the Television Rating Points(TRPs) for News TV Channels for a period of four (4) weeks or until further directions, whichever is earlier.

This would essentially mean that there would be no more TRP ratings in India for the next four weeks in order to restrict TV channels from running after desperate TRP ratings by using fabricated content. 

We have seen in the recent past how media channels shared sensational videos of drone attacks, and air missiles in the Middle East. There would have been more such attempts by using fabricated videos just to grab the attention of viewers. 

In order to restrict the same, the ministry of broadcast has restricted TRP ratings for the next four weeks, so that channels cannot run after rating points and post sensationalism content on that note.