Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd (BCCL) that owns the
Times of India newspaper and Times Now channel has sent legal notice to Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) alleging illegal and fraudulent viewership data manipulation and tampering of television rating points (TRP) of its TV channel, Times Now, by the Council. In the notice, BCCL has demanded a compensation of Rs431 crore along with an interest from BARC. It also asked refund of its licence fee of Rs21.83 crore paid to BARC along with the interest.
In the notice (seen by
Moneylife), BCCL says, "Times Now’s viewership numbers or TRP were clearly fudged and manipulated by BARC from 2017-onwards. Times Now’s viewership numbers were deliberately and in a concerted manner, reduced for giving benefit to the newly launched channel, which has considerably and adversely impacted the revenue, growth, reputation, goodwill and image of the Times Now channel and the Times Group at the national and international level."