Last Friday (6 March), the Indian government halted the publication of TV news ratings. It directed the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to suspend television rating points (TRPs) for four weeks or until further notice, due to the conflict in West Asia.
BARC is the official body that measures and releases weekly TRP for news channels.
Why did the government take this extraordinary and unusual, if not unprecedented, step? The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said it was to discourage television news networks from sensational coverage of the war in the West Asia. Certain News TV Channels are displaying “unwarranted sensationalism and speculative content,” the government stated.
Such content could “potentially create panic among the general public, especially those having friends and family in the affected areas or residing in the affected areas,” added the ministry.
Well, thank you, I&B ministry, for your sensitivity. We applaud you.
Except, except, they’re not minding you, are they? TV news channels in Hindi and English still paint the war red, add music, drums, and entertaining headlines — if it’s “War escalates between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon” as per CNN International, it’s “Fury in West Asia” on CNN-News18.
And now that another front has opened with the “War for Energy” (CNN-News18), gas fires are being lit across India.
The government’s suspension of the TRPs is both understandable and puzzling.
Over 9 million Indians work and live in West Asian countries, which are embroiled in the war. We have family or friends living there.
Iran’s bombing of the UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia has put the inhabitants at risk — we’ve seen social media videos or TV news footage of explosions in these countries. Many Indians have been stranded in one or the other place — TV news channels have spoken to them too.
Besides geopolitical or economic considerations, this human interest angle deserves to be handled with utmost care.
But why does the government naively believe that suspension of TRPs will stop the sensational coverage on TV news? Very little has changed in the television news coverage of the war since the I&B’s directive.
Yes, we are seeing more of Prime Minister Narendra Modi again, mostly speeches from his Kochi visit on Wednesday and news about other developments in India, such as the debate of the Opposition’s no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Television rating points help news channels attract advertising — their main source of income. Each Thursday, after TRPs are published, news channels and advertising agencies pour over them to see which channels are doing well — and with which audience segment. Advertising depends on TRPs significantly even though many of us believe (this writer included) that they don’t accurately map viewership.
For now, TV news channels are ignoring the TRP peril — or they think that war sells and viewers are buying into their coverage, regardless. So, full speed ahead.
Maybe they’re right: TV9 Bharatvarsh has been a full–scale 24×7 war news, views, and entertainment channel for the last few years. NewsNation has followed it down the war path. Most Hindi channels cover the Iran war almost the entire day.
TV news channels such as Aaj Tak, NDTV, India Today, Republic TV have stationed reporters in Dubai and Tel Aviv — some in protective gear. The coverage remains the same: “Loud West Asia war drums” (Times Now) is what we hear, “smoke, smoke everywhere” is what we see as “Trump and Netanyahu show their swag” (R. Bharat).
The government’s decision to halt publication of TRP ratings is bewildering because TV news by definition is sensational and there has been scant respect for restraint in creating panic before.
Think of TV news coverage on — by the way, according to TRPs, over 500 million people watched the TV news coverage of Operation Sindoor in the first week of May 2025.
Think of the stampede in Prayagraj during the Maha Kumbh Mela and at the New Delhi Railway Station.
Think of crime coverage: from actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death by suicide to Sonam Raghuvanshi allegedly killing her husband Raju on their honeymoon in Meghalaya — and so very many other murders. In each case, TV news channels have been sensational and insensitive.
When it’s a war, they come out with all guns blazing — just as we’ve come to expect.
As the Iran war heads toward a global oil crisis, TV news channels are tracking the situation across the country for hotels, restaurants as well as the public.
Daily newspapers have been doing the same. Stories in English newspapers reflect what we’ve seen on TV news.
Business Standard looked at the larger picture in “India faces oil shock as Iran war intensifies and supply risks grow”.
TV news spoke of “Oil Shock” (NDTV 24×7), “Crude surge rocks D-Street,” wrote India Today on Monday as crude oil prices surged to $120 per barrel.
LPG distress. “Restaurants in Delhi–NCR fear shutdown as commercial LPG cylinder supply hit amid West Asia conflict,” wrote The Indian Express. It added that 70 per cent of outlets in Delhi “may shut down in the next two-three days,’’ according to the National Restaurant Association of India.
In “Gas shortage blows out restaurant stoves…”, The Hindu wrote that around 20 per cent of establishments had closed in Mumbai already.
CNNNews-18 visited a famous restaurant in Bengaluru and found that it had a gas ‘crisis’, according to the owner — they were down to two days of gas supplies
In Chennai, it was the same — no more than a couple of days of gas at restaurants that would close down without commercial gas supply.
Then there was panic among the public — people lining up to book, collect gas cylinders in Noida (Zee News), Jaipur (India TV), Bhopal (India Today). Consumers had similar complaints: can’t make a booking online or at the gas distributor. The distributor looks harassed and helpless.
“Tel, gas ki aag,” concluded ABP News.
Please don’t press the panic button.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)
