Proposed Guidelines Remove Entry Barriers for Television Ratings

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has released a draft notification dated 2 July 2025 proposing the deletion of Clauses 1.5 and 1.7 from the 2014 Policy Guidelines for Television Rating Agencies that imposed various restrictions on the entry of audience measurement entities. This could erode the monopoly of the incumbent BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council), the successor of the controversial TAM and INTAM, which has also been under the scanner multiple times because of the sample size and other anomalies. In addition, the audience movement from traditional media to new age media was not being adequately addressed by the council.

In the existing guidelines, Clause 1.5 prohibits any board member of a television rating agency from being involved in broadcasting, advertising, or advertising agency businesses. Clause 1.7 imposes stringent cross-holding restrictions, preventing entities or their promoters from holding 10% or more equity in both a rating agency and any broadcaster, advertiser, or advertising agency, as well as barring them from investing in multiple rating agencies within the same region. The proposed guidelines therefore open the doors for various other international agencies and platforms, including OTTs with adequate data capabilities and AI involvement.

By removing these clauses, the ministry aims to ease barriers to entry, allowing media and advertising stakeholders to invest in or participate on the boards of rating agencies, a move designed to “democratise and modernise the television audience measurement ecosystem” and to encourage healthy competition, innovation, and investment in more comprehensive and technology-driven viewership measurement systems. While the policy brings inclusion and innovation, concerns pertaining to data protection, competition and trust loom large.