MediaOne Exits BARC; Cites Collapse Of Credibility

MediaOne has severed its ties with the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), stating that the agency’s ratings system has lost its credibility and can no longer be trusted to reflect reality. The exit makes MediaOne the second Indian news channel, after NDTV, to break away from BARC.

MediaOne made the decision after repeatedly raising serious doubts about the accuracy of BARC data and receiving no convincing answers. Despite the network's strong viewer support, which is consistently reflected in digital platforms, BARC failed to justify why this did not translate into their ratings. MediaOne has strongly criticised BARC’s methodology, pointing to the agency’s extremely limited sample size and what it describes as an unscientific placement of rating meters.

In Kerala alone, out of roughly 8.6 million television sets, BARC reportedly operates fewer than 1,500 meters, a number MediaOne argues is far too small to provide a representative picture of audience behaviour. The channel also noted that the existing distribution of these meters fails to capture the diversity of regions and demographics across the state. There are also serious concerns that these meters can be tampered with or influenced from outside.

MediaOne said the gap between its strong digital performance and BARC’s television ratings raises serious questions about the agency’s credibility. The channel, which drew 39 million YouTube views last week and regularly ranks among the top Malayalam outlets online, pointed out that BARC’s figures fail to reflect its actual reach. It also criticised the growing trend of channels spending crores on landing pages to inflate ratings, adding that BARC has ignored repeated calls to fix this system.

Pramod Raman, MediaOne Editor, criticised BARC sharply, saying that it was unacceptable for a channel that tops digital platforms to be shown in tenth place in the agency’s ratings. He called the system deceptive and manipulative, accusing BARC of secretly distorting the genuine preferences of viewers. He also pointed out that these flawed ratings are driving business deals in Kerala worth thousands of crores. “No chart from BARC can damage the bond of trust that exists between this channel and its viewers, a bond grounded in truth and ethical journalism. No rating sheet from any agency holds greater value than that,” Pramod Raman added.