NDTV, Times Network and Network18 Fight to Protect Landing-Page TRP Inflation in Fierce Lobbying Against MIB Crackdown

New Delhi — In a coordinated push, NDTV, Times Network and Network18 have launched a sharp attack on the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s proposed amendment to exclude landing-page impressions from television ratings, branding the reform as “legally untenable” and “technically unsound” while defending a practice widely criticised for artificially boosting TRPs.

The three major news broadcasters, which have long benefited from lucrative landing-page deals with distributors, submitted near-identical representations on December 5, urging the government to abandon the plan that would stop counting the automatic “first-look” viewership generated when a set-top box powers on.

Industry sources described the submissions as a textbook defence of a controversial arrangement that allows channels with deep-pocket distribution agreements to rack up millions of rating points the moment viewers switch on their televisions — even if most immediately change the channel.

The networks argued that excluding such impressions would “delete real consumer engagement,” but critics within the industry have long contended that landing-page placements create a distorted picture of actual viewer intent and give an unfair edge to channels able to pay premium carriage fees.

The networks argued that excluding such impressions would “delete real consumer engagement,” but critics within the industry have long contended that landing-page placements create a distorted picture of actual viewer intent and give an unfair edge to channels able to pay premium carriage fees.

This aggressive stance from Network18, in particular, echoes a pattern of apparent hypocrisy. As far back as December 2022, an exclusive investigative tape exposed News18 India—Network18’s flagship Hindi news channel—being deliberately placed on landing pages to inflate its Television Rating Points through what the network itself had previously decried as “forced viewership.” In a letter to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), News18 had slammed the tactic as an unfair distortion of genuine audience measurement. Yet the tape, obtained by media watchdog News Tap One, captured the channel exploiting the very same method, racking up unearned impressions from unsuspecting cable subscribers. Compounding the irony, under the TV18 umbrella, Viacom18’s general entertainment channel Colors Kannada was simultaneously positioned on Hathway’s Bengaluru landing page—a Reliance-owned distributor with deep ties to the group—targeting Karnataka households to pad its metrics.

ALSO READ: Contradiction 2.0 – News18 India taped on Landing Pages again, GECs of Viacom18 also placed on Landing

The broadcasters further claimed the issue is sub judice and accused the ministry of trying to revive a methodology TRAI rejected in 2018 — conveniently omitting that TRAI had dismissed the older alternative precisely because it failed to filter out inflated landing-page numbers.

Smaller broadcasters and several advertiser bodies have welcomed the proposed cleanup, arguing that the current system disproportionately rewards a handful of large news channels at the expense of fair competition and accurate measurement of genuine viewership.

As the government reviews stakeholder feedback, the aggressive lobbying by NDTV, Times Network and Network18 has laid bare the entrenched interests resisting reforms aimed at bringing greater transparency to India’s troubled TRP regime.