The digital forensic analysis of the TRP scam has highlighted some more distressing information on how the former senior management at BARC not only allegedly manipulated ratings but also allegedly misused company funds and moved people to various departments to achieve certain benefits.

The analysis by the Acquiosry Risk Consulting (ARC) has claimed to have found evidence against Manashi Kumar, former Head, People Operation, BARC India. The report alleges that she was involved in activities breaching ethics and code of conduct.

The report claimed that Kumar was allegedly instrumental in shifting the control of BARC from the research domain to the business domain, which resulted in brand erosion as questions were raised on the sanctity of viewership ratings. The analysis also observed an alleged unethical trend of moving people into various departments to manipulate ratings.

Twelve weeks of data blackout in TV news category seems to have had no significant impact on ad volumes in the genre. Latest TamAdEx data show that the indexed ad volumes surged on news genre by 12% during the October-December period when compared to July-September.

While there might have been small exits and movements of advertisers on individual channels, overall ad volumes remained stable in the genre throughout the viewership data blackout.

As per the numbers shared by TAM, there was a week-on-week growth in ad volumes. Between October 16, 2020 and January 16, 2021. 7 out of 12 weeks saw a positive ad volume growth over its previous week. Week 48 for instance saw 4% growth when compared to the first week of the blackout. So did Week 50.

Hyderabad: Zee Telugu is all set to telecast the World Television of Nishabdam on 24th January at 5:30 PM only on Zee Telugu and Zee Telugu HD. Hemant Madhukar’s multi-starrer film boasts of names like Anushka Shetty, R Madhavan, Shalini Pandey, Anjali, and Hollywood maverick Michael Madsen.

The story revolves around Sakshi (Anushka Shetty), a mute-and-deaf artist engaged to a celebrated cello player Anthony (R Madhavan). Her best friend Sonali (Shalini Pandey), who is her whole world, has been missing ever since she got engaged, leaving Sakshi with her fiancé and another friend Vivek (Subbaraju). What happens when her seemingly simple life takes a turn for the worse and she finds herself under the scanner of Seattle PD cops Richard (Michael Madsen) and Maha Lakshmi (Anjali)?

Starting today January 20, CNN will provide viewers with comprehensive coverage of Inauguration Day as President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States. Chris Cuomo will kick off CNN’s special coverage of The Inauguration of Joe Biden at 10.30 am IST, and will be followed by Poppy Harlow, Jim Sciutto, John Berman, and Alisyn Camerota.

CNN’s coverage will continue with Dana Bash, Wolf Blitzer, Erin Burnett, Anderson Cooper, John King, Abby Phillip, and Jake Tapper live from DC to cover the day’s events, including the oath of office, the inaugural parade, and the inaugural concert.

Brianna Keilar and Pamela Brown will be live from DC covering key developments as the day unfolds, with Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon leading the network’s late-night coverage. Gloria Borger, David Axelrod, Van Jones, and Evan Osnos will join to provide analysis throughout the day. In addition, dozens of CNN correspondents and reporters will be live from the nation’s capital and cities across the country.

Network18 Media and Investments Ltd reported a profit after tax of Rs 333 crore- a two-fold increase for the quarter ended on December 31, 2020, against  Rs 148.29 crore on December 31, 2019, on improved performance, lower finance costs, and tax reversals. 

The company reported Q3 operating EBITDA up 21% YoY while operating margins continued to grow to a healthy 23%.  It further added, ad-recovery, cost-efficiency drove entertainment EBITDA margin to 25%, whereas TV News EBITDA margin ramped-up to 19%; marking four years of consistent improvement, and Digital News EBITDA margins rose to 9%, after achieving break-even in the last quarter.   

Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman of Network18, said, “The group has fully recovered from the effects of the pandemic, even as safety measures and innovative solutions to logistical challenges continue to be deployed. We have treated this period as an opportunity to rethink our businesses, and are emerging stronger and ready for the post-COVID world. As TV consumption remains healthy and Digital adoption grows in tandem, we believe the group is well-positioned to straddle the space. The benefits of cost controls effected over the past year are now visible, as all three verticals are at much-improved profitability levels. In this new year that is bringing in new hope, our constant endeavour will be to create value and deliver on our promise of class-leading content."

The Acquisory Risk Consulting (ARCP), in its forensic analysis, found incriminating evidence against Venkat Sujit Samrat, former Head- Product Leadership, BARC India. It points to him manipulating of the viewership of Telugu and Kannada genre during week 1, 2,4 and 7 of week 2017; week 9, 20 and 29 of 2019; and August of 2018. 

Venkat Sujit and Rajnish Rathore's mail trail shows that the former gave instructions to cut the viewership rating of TV5, ABN Andhra Jyoti, and 10TV. 

"The ratings had increased as these channels aired the 31 December Welcome Programme. TV5 rating was reduced to 80.03 from 88, while ABN Andhra Jyoti's rating dropped to 52.07 from 57. 10TV viewership reduced to 52.01 from 57. The revised ratings are much below the previous four-week average," read the forensic report. 

Bhojpuri general entertainment channel Big Ganga has joined hands with Lowe Lintas for the KaamWapasi initiative that aims to resolve the unemployment issue among migrant workers in India.

Supporting migrant workers in these testing times, this one-of-a-kind tech platform will help them get back to work and assist employers with access to a pool of available workers.

Big Ganga will leverage their extensive presence in the region to create awareness in the job market and reduce the unemployment gap through customised interventions. The initiative urges workers to call on the toll-free number 1800 202 44 88, follow the process and register themselves accordingly and get their choice of work along with a sense of dignity and self-respect in their labour.

Enterr10 Rangeela, a new Bhojpuri channel from Enterr10 TV Network, has started a new show ‘Aashish Chhathi Maiya Ke’. Produced by Reliance Entertainment’s Reliance Big Synergy, the new social mythology series started from January 18, and will air every Monday-Saturday, 7 pm.

‘Aashish Chhathi Maiya Ke’ is a story of a 12-year-old girl Parvati who is a param bhakth of Chhathi Maiya and wants to become a singer like her mother. However, she faces strong opposition from her grandmother and father. The show will capture her arduous journey and life purpose to become a singer and the extreme difficulties she will endure for the well-being of mankind.

Zee TV’s next primetime show ‘Teri Meri Ikk Jindri’ is a love story based in Amritsar, which follows the lives of Mahi and Jogi, two seemingly opposite personalities whose distinctly different outlooks towards life and happiness do not come in the way of their love. Set to premiere on January 27, the show will air Monday-Saturday at 8pm.

He is all heart, philosophical, even holds a degree in agriculture and cattle-raising but refuses to be a part of today’s rat race. Meet Jogi, the befikraa who runs a tabela and a dairy in Amritsar. His mantra in life is ‘Insaan paison se nahin, khushiyon se ameer hota hai’, finding joy in the smallest of things in life.

The Bombay High Court on Monday pulled up news channels Republic TV and Times Now over their reporting against Mumbai Police in Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case and said it was ‘prima facie contemptuous’.

However the court refrained from taking any action against the two channels. 

"Criticism of city police by TV media was unfair, in view of the material placed on record. The city police was at the very basic stage of probe,” the High Court said, according to a Live Law report.

Hearing a batch of petitions filed by activists, lawyers, NGOs and eight former police officers against the media trial, a bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Girish S Kulkarni, said the two news channels started a vicious campaign in an attempt to outsmart each other. This was without any regard for the rights of other stakeholders and without any sense of propriety.