India Has a New TV Ratings Policy. But With More Players Comes Greater Control

The new policy is a free-for-all scenario that allows OTT and DTH platforms to publish their own viewership data.

The new guidelines come into effect immediately. But will the new policy bring in more transparency in audience measurement or make the entire mechanism more opaque?

(Photo: The Quint)

Last month, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) released its Television Rating Policy 2026—ostensibly a free-for-all scenario that allows the operation of multiple rating agencies and permission to over-the-top (OTT) and direct-to-home (DTH) platforms to publish their own viewership data. But with that comes greater governmental control over these agencies than the self-regulatory mechanism of an industry body.

According to the November 2025 Media and Entertainment Industry Report by the Indian Brand Equity Foundation, India’s media and entertainment industry is in the ‘sunshine’ sector, projected to grow from Rs 2.5 lakh crore in 2024 to Rs 3.1 lakh crore by 2027. Of this, advertising revenues is projected to reach Rs 1.58 lakh crore in 2028.

The new guidelines come into effect immediately. But the question is will it bring in more transparency in audience measurement or make the entire mechanism more opaque? How will it help streamline advertising revenue, both government and corporate, in a chaotic industry dominated by digital advertising, where global big tech winners take all?

A Lukewarm Reception

Not surprisingly, the announcement of the policy was met with a rather lukewarm, if guarded, response. Currently, TV ratings for news channels have been suspended by the government due to “unwarranted sensationalism” by news channels covering the US-Iran war. On 7 April, the four-week suspension was extended by another four weeks or indefinitely.

In any case, the draft guidelines had been circulated last July for comments, and the government’s intention to bring in other agencies was already on the anvil.

The guidelines supersede the 2014 policy guidelines, which made accreditation to the industry body Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) mandatory, and which had laid down a 10 percent ceiling for ownership of rating agencies by industry stakeholders (broadcasters, advertisers, and advertising and media agencies).

Opening the Ratings Market

Now, television rating agencies with a minimum net worth of Rs 5 crore can seek registration (a drop from the earlier Rs 20 crore). The other criterion is that they must have 50 percent of independent directors on their boards. The directors must have no relationship with broadcasters, advertisers, or advertising agencies, and should get a security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

While reactions to the policy are still coming in, there is little time given to put new systems in place. BARC, for instance, will need to ramp up its metered homes from 50,000 to 80,000 homes within six months, while new agencies get 18 months to measure audiences in 1.2 lakh homes.

Given that audiences increasingly view content on mobile devices and online digital platforms, the new policy seeks to bring in audience measurement across media.

Opening the Ratings Market

Now, OTT and DTH platforms are free to maintain and publish their own viewership data, without any external or independent auditing agency.

For TV channels, viewership arising out of the landing page can only be used as a marketing tool and shall not be counted in the viewership measurement.

The policy also applies provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 to maintain privacy of metered homes. Grievance redressal is no longer through a call centre—and only the MIB can call for records, dropping the role of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in this process.

In addition, an audit and oversight team would operate at the ministry level, which will conduct annual audits. The policy says that guidelines regarding foreign direct investment—or FDI—in television rating agencies would be issued separately.

Where does this leave BARC, the self-regulatory industry body that had a monopoly over ratings?

BARC, hitherto the dominant agency that measured viewership, through the use of people meters, was set up by the Indian Broadcasting & Digital Foundation, Indian Society of Advertisers, and Advertising Agencies Association of India in 2010. It began work in 2015. Barely 11 years later, other agencies are being allowed in to rate television audiences, with little or no evaluation of the success or failure of the 2014 policy.

Do Ratings Even Work?

Rating agencies have not been without controversy, whether it was NDTV‘s case against TAM or the cloud over BARC ratings of Republic TV soon after its launch in 2017, and subsequently, the Mumbai police investigation into charges that Republic TV had manipulated ratings by getting households to keep their TVs turned to their channel. The case was closed in 2024.

Whether television ratings can accurately measure audience viewership is anybody’s guess. Earlier, the sample size taken, with around 58,000 people meters, was considered too small and represented barely 0.025 percent of the total TV homes, according to government figures. However, even now, the increase is still a fraction of the estimated 230 million households and over 900 million viewers.

Besides, is it even possible to accurately map audience viewership in a country with such complex demographic and cultural diversity? It is expected that the increase in sample size will provide better data but only if the sample reflects this diversity.

Whether the new ratings policy will adequately measure viewership of a large, ever-shifting audience is anybody’s guess.

(The author is co-editor of the Free Speech Collective. This is an opinion piece, and the views expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)