The Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) has suspended weekly TRP ratings for TV serials following a mandate from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB). The new Television Ratings Policy 2026 will have to be rolled out to modernise audience measurement by bringing OTT viewership in and making it transparent.
According to the new framework, BARC will expand its sample size from 59,000 homes to 80,000 metered homes to get more representative data for urban and rural markets. The policy also requires that 33% of BARC’s board members be independent directors to reduce the risk of conflicts of interest. It’s also a significant shift in the way landing‑page viewership is not counted in ratings and has been accused of inflated numbers and therefore the findings have not been quantified.
The suspension has immediate repercussions on broadcasters and advertisers. India’s ₹40,000 crore television advertising market relies heavily on weekly TRP data to plan campaigns and allocate budgets. Advertisers will need to rely on historical performance and other metrics (social media buzz and campaign results) to tell them what they can do. Old-school broadcasters with loyal audiences might still attract advertisers, but young shows could struggle to show their reach during this transition.
Industry reaction has been mixed. Some producers feel the suspension is a good thing because they claim a unified system of measurement with OTT platforms will better mirror how people are viewing TV now. Yet the lack of benchmarks is making programming decisions and negotiations with advertisers a challenge, even though measurement is available.
The Ministry has said that the revised policy will be fully implemented by August 2026, after which BARC will return to publishing ratings when compliance is achieved. Broadcasters and advertisers then are left in a state of uncertainty and can only accept other indicators of audience engagement.
To conclude, the suspension of weekly TRP ratings is one of the most significant disruptions in India’s television industry in over a decade. Though it’s aimed at modernizing and incorporating OTT viewership into the ratings system, it has temporarily shaken up the advertising ecosystem and programming strategy of TV serials.
