Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani arrested in fake ratings case

Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani has been arrested in Mumbai in connection with an alleged TRP (Television Rating Point) scam.

Khanchandani is the 13th person to be arrested in this case so far. Last month, the Arnab Goswami-led channel’s distribution head Ghanshyam Singh was arrested in the fake ratings case last month. An FIR was filed by Mumbai Police in this case on October 6.

The TRP scam came to light in October when ratings agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) filed a complaint through the Hansa Research Group, alleging that certain television channels were rigging their TRP numbers.

Related news | Mumbai police investigating Republic TV for TRP manipulation

Hansa is one of BARC’s vendors on engagement with panel homes or people’s meters. TRPs are calculated based on the audience measurement meters installed at various households. Police said some of the homes with the meters were paid money to switch to a particular channel to manipulate the ratings.

Besides Republic TV, Fakt Marathi and Box Cinema are also being probed in the TRP rigging case. For records, Republic TV claims the highest TRPs among all news channels in India.