The ministry of information & broadcasting has constituted a committee headed by Amit Mitra, secretary general FICCI, to review the existing Television Rating Points (TRP) system in India and suggest measures to bring in an effective mechanism for a transparent TRP regime.

The committee has been constituted in the backdrop of a raging debate in the country over the influence of the TRPs on television news content. It is largely believed that the TRP system now in place is wholly insufficient in its coverage of TV-watching homes in the country and thus throws up highly questionable and unreliable ratings. TAM, or Television Audience Measurement, a subsidiary of the A C Nielsen, has about 10,000 boxes in homes across the country to measure audience preferences for entertainment and news channels. That is too few boxes for tracking the habits of viewers of satellite television with penetration of around 80 million homes.
TAM and television channels claim that these figures are a true reflection of audience preferences though the sample size is too small but the general slump in quality of news content has been attributed to the channel’s reliance on these figures and adapting dubious programming to garner TRPs.
Thus the mandate of the committee is expected to address issues related to accuracy, accountability, transparency and objectivity in the generation of TRPs. It is also expected to examine as to how misleading TRPs may not just impact broadcasters and advertisers but more importantly the viewing public. The committee will evolve its own methodology to ensure widest possible consultations.  It will also take into account the recommendations of TRAI, the Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT, other judicial pronouncements and international best practices to arrive at their recommendations.
The terms of reference of the committee are comprehensive and cover a range of issues related to the subject. Some of the key issues expected to be examined include; the viability of the TRP system in portraying the demographic profile of the viewership in the context of viewing habits and sample size and coverage area including rural segments of the country and regions such as J&K and North-east.  The committee shall also look into viewership of all distribution platforms including terrestrial, cable, DTH & IPTV. It shall study issues related to adequate transparency in selection of sample homes for placing people’s meters and current disclosure norms adopted by the rating agencies inhibiting desirable transparency in generation of TRP ratings including current audit system.
Apart from these issues, the committee will examine whether an industry-led body as recommended by TRAI is a more appropriate mechanism to create TRPs.
The committee will have the following members: Rajiv Mehrotra, managing trustee, Prasar Bharti; Neeraja Choudhary, journalist; director, IIMA or his nominee; director, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, or his nominee; D.S. Mathur, retired secretary, GOI; joint secretary (Broadcasting), I&B ministry (member secretary).
The committee will submit its report within three months from the date of its first meeting.