Stung by what was one of the major viewership grabs of 2020—what some call the TRP scam—government of India created a 4-member committee to assess the existing television rating system in India. This triggered a flash of memory where I had a conversation, a few months back with one of my friends, an editor with prominent news media house in India.
To much of my eye-popping and slow clap moments, I was given to understand there is a severe talent crunch at top for many respectable media outlets (here I am talking mostly about news), the reason being a hydra-headed monster called TRPs or television rating points.
What I came to know was nobody is willing to take up the editor’s seat at most news channels for fear of the weekly guillotine called TV ratings. In a moment of almost crystal ball gazing, this conversation took place a few days before the police FIRs and subsequent reality television playing out of newsrooms and prisons.