New Delhi, October 15: The Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) on Thursday announced that it has temporarily suspended news channels' ratings for a period of three months. The statement by the ratings agency comes close on heels amid a controversy surrounding its viewership data for TV news channels. According to reports, BARC announced that it would continue to review and augment the current standards of measuring and reporting data. "Will continue to release weekly audience estimates for genre of news by state and language", BARC said. Fake BARC TRP Ratings Racket Busted: Mumbai Police Arrests Employees of Fakt Marathi And Box Cinema, Alleges Republic TV's Involvement Too.

The television rating agency measures TV viewership on behalf of broadcasters, advertisers and advertising agencies. The BARC statement reads, "In light of the recent developments, BARC Board has proposed that it’s Technical Committee will review and augment the current standards of measuring and reporting the data of niche genres, to improve their statistical robustness and to significantly hamper the potential attempts of infiltrating the panel homes".

According to reports, the fake TRP scam came to light when BARC filed a complaint through Hansa Research Group. The BARC alleged that certain television channels were rigging TRP numbers. Hansa is one of BARC''s vendors on engagement with panel homes or people's meters.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 15, 2020 01:15 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).