What is TRP

TRP is better known as Television Rating Point or Target Rating Point. A target rating point (TRP) is a marketing and advertising measurement.

Comparing impressions of a campaign or advertisement on a communications platform with the size or number of the audience that is being targeted is measured with the help of this metric.

Thousands of television sets are equipped with a gadget that measures viewers' impressions.

A sample of TV owners in various geographic and demographic areas is used to calculate these values or results.

When a viewer sees an episode, a specific code is telecasted or broadcasted, which records/notes the time and the episode they watched on a certain day. The average is calculated over a 30-day phase to determine the channel's viewership or engagement. This tentatively has a range of 0-3.0.

Hence, the TRP rate is used to calculate a TV channel's TRP.

Moreover, advertising companies and investors can use TRP to determine the mindset of the public. A TV channel's or program's TRP influences where sponsors place their advertising, and investors select where to risk their capital.

Target Rating Point- System and Calculations

The establishment of target rating points is crucial and depends in few factors. Among a bigger group of targeted persons, target rating points are a measure of how well an advertisement or campaign has performed. In the case where an ad runs more than once, the TRP is the summation of each GRP multiplied by the anticipated target audience in the total net audience.

In estimating the potential or possible marketing reach of a specific advertisement, TRP and GRP are both crucial parameters to consider.

Beyond the television, TRPs are determined by taking the whole target audience as the denominator and the total combined impressions as the numerator then multiplying it by 100. For example

100 x 1,000,000 impressions in the target audience 10,000,000; multiplied by 100 equals 10 TRPs.

As a result, marketers can measure how many impressions each media channel generated for their target population each week. So, they are calculated per week for better evaluation and assessment.

TRPs can also be computed as 100 x reach x frequency, where reach is the percentage of the target audience who saw at minimum one impression, and frequency refers to the average number of impressions.

Hence, It is used to determine which shows are the most popular and to gauge the preferences of viewers. As a result, it can be used to determine which Television channel and which show are the most popular. It indicates how often a channel or a particular show is viewed by viewers.

Calculation of Television Rating Point in India

Broadcast Audience Research Council, an Indian institution, calculates TRP using "BAR-O-meters." All TV channels and TV shows are ranked weekly by the BARC on Thursdays. It has placed "BAR-O metres" in more than 45,000 homes.

For the purpose of determining TRP in India, three electronic approaches are available:

• To calculate the TRP, people's metres tools or devices are fixed in certain locations or placed in chosen households. A total of 1,000 viewers are questioned in this way as part of the assessment and sampling process.
• These devices then help in recording the information about the channels or programmes that family members or selected individuals watch on a daily basis. The Indian Television Audience Measurement (INTAM) team uses this metre to gather data about a Television channel or show for one minute. It is only after careful analysis that the team can determine what a channel or program's TRP is. The agency then analyses this information to determine national TRP figures for various Television channels and Television shows.
• The second process is called the picture matching method. In this method, the people metre records a little bit of the TV screen or picture being seen on the Television. Pictures gathered from the residences are then used to collect the data, which is then analysed to determine the TRPs.
• The third process is the audio watermarking process. This incorporates audio watermarks into streaming video just before uploading and broadcasting it on television. They cannot be heard by the human ear, but they can be identified and decoded when the video is aired to determine the number of viewers who have viewed it.

What is BARC?

Formed in 2014, the Broadcast Audience Research Council is the world's largest TV audience measuring agency. A collaborative venture with TAM has resulted in its status as India's sole rating agency for the broadcasting sector.

Barometers are currently installed in 22,000 households in India, and BARC India must install 10,000 more each year to reach 50,000 homes by the end of the fourth year of service.

BARC India's services were launched with 277 channels subscription.

There are now more than 470 channels that use BARC India's watermarking technology and have a subscription to BARC India's services.

TRP and Advertisers

As per the above information it follows, therefore, that TRP will increase as viewership increases, and vice versa. In a similar vein, the lower the viewership , the lower will be the TRP.

TRP is a measure of how people feel about TV programmes. It only discloses data with a high TRP for programmes with a significant audience. This information is primarily useful to advertisers, who can use it to invest money and show advertising to viewers during shows. Each time you want to promote a product or service during a two-minute break, you must pay a certain amount of revenue to the particular station or advertiser.

The same thing happens when the show takes a break. During this time, advertising companies broadcast their ads.Advertisers and TRP have a close relationship.

This means that advertisers will charge you extra to have your ads seen during commercial breaks on a station with a higher TRP. The firms pay the channel owners a bunch of cost for their advertising to be seen in TRP shows.

In order to increase awareness of their product or service, these companies place advertising on television, radio, and other forms of media.

This generates a substantial income for the TV station.

As a result, the vast majority of the revenue received by channels comes from the ads or commercials you see.

Agencies that Calculate TRP in India

There are various other television rating agencies in India that determine TRPs, including TAM, INTAM, BARC, and Doordarshan Audience Research Team (DART), which relies entirely on rural areas. TAM is possessed by IMRB, the research organization of HTA, while INTAM is acquired by ORG-MARG.

India's BARC was founded by Broadcasters (IBF), Advertisers (ISA), and Advertising & Media Agencies (AMA) (AAAI).

It is also the world's biggest and renowned television measuring industry association.

Why are TRP Crucial?

Increasing the number of TRPs leads to an increase in visibility, which leads to an increase in cash flow. However, TRPs are more vital because companies decide where to invest their ad money based on which Television channel has the highest Television Rating Points.

Hence, Television channels with high TRP scores are more effective at targeting their audience and measuring return on investment (ROI). When ratings are greater, broadcast firm can pay advertisers more.Thereby, TRPs are the primary metric used by advertising companies to determine which channel to publicise by determining the cost-per-rating-point (CPRP).

Limitations of Television Rating Point

Television Rating Point comes with few limitations including;

• Infiltration or tampering with the panel can be accomplished by bribing content providers or audiences or by interfering with the panel choice.
• It is easier to manipulate the TRP if the sample size is small (e.g., for English News channels). Tricking just a few houses can also bring about a change in the TRP.
• In panel tampering/infiltration, there is no special legislation by which agents/suspects could be punished.
• Subscriptions account for only 30 percent of the revenue generated by television channels, with advertising accounting for the other 70 percent. Advertising as a revenue source forces broadcasters to produce content that advertisers want to see.

Remedy and Solution

The government, in combination with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), can improve the accuracy of TRP calculations by larger sample size, creating a legal framework for TRP regulation, and implementing chip-based activity logs in all set-top boxes.

In order to prevent TV channels from serving the lowest common denominator, the TRAI should elevate its subscription prices.

Manipulation of TRP Scam

In October 2020, the Mumbai Police received a complaint alleging certain channels of increasing their viewership ratings dishonestly.

An investigation into Republic TV's viewership ratings was announced on October 8, 2020, following an official statement by the Mumbai Police about the breaking of a fraud to distort TRP ratings and, in turn, advertising money.

FIR filed by Mumbai police named channels like India Today, Fakt Marathi, and Box Cinema TV channel in Fake TRP Ratings Scandal.ARG Outlier Media Pvt Ltd's accounts were audited by the police, who found evidence of fraud.

From the very first month of operation in 2016, Republic Bharat had high TRPs (TV rating points) and viewership.

Authorities claimed that Republic TV exaggerated its ratings by bribing low-income people, including those who did not understand English, to keep their television sets on and tuned to the channel. Republic TV has denied these allegations. After the Central Bureau of Investigation became involved in the case on October 21, it became a national case, including every news channel in India.

All of India's news channels covered the case now for manipulating viewership. Also, BARC fined TV Today Network Ltd., which owns AajTak and India Today, of 5 lakh rupees.

Television network TV Today was ordered by the Bombay High Court to pay a fine of Rs. 5 lakh or face coercive measures by the BARC Disciplinary Council (BDC). Crime Branch has been accused of using pressure tactics on Hansa Group employees to make false or untrue statements. They further stated that a document flashed on Republic TV as Hansa Report document and is a fake document. Hansa Group soon filed an application in the Bombay High Court trying to seek transfer of the investigation into the TRP scam to the CBI.

In the petition, police officers were listed as respondents.

A request by the channel to have its employees protected from arrest was denied by the Supreme Court of India. However, Republic TV's CEO was arrested in Mumbai on December 13th 2020. This case caught lot of attention.

Leaks of WhatsApp chats between Republic TV's executive editor and the former CEO of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) have revealed evidence of a possible conspiracy to impact TV ratings.

Several television channels, including Republic TV, were accused of manipulating their TRP numbers by BARC in October of last year.

Many people have expressed their shock and disbelief at the allegations of collaboration between these two individuals to cheat the system. Digital networks and the political landscape have reacted strongly to alleged claims about Republic TV's reach and impact within the regime, as well as to their apparent misuse of this to advance the business.

Maharashtra authorities have opened an investigation into accusations that the Republic TV Ceo had previous knowledge of the Balakot airstrike and used this knowledge for gaining viewership.

Tips to Stop the Scam and Fraud – India (Government Role)

• Government should authorise these organizations to gather data by regulations. Dish TV companies like Tata Sky and Airtel can be responsible for viewing data directly from their central control system.
• False people metres attached to a few TV sets should be dealt with by the govt.
• Together, the I&B ministry and TRAI must come up with an innovative, science-based system for combating the TRP swindle. It's time to put an end to TRP-inducing news (fake journalism).
• BARC's domination should be curbed with the help of more agencies.