#e4mBreaking:  Kerala HC lifts stay on landing page TRP provision in MIB's Television Rating Policy

The Kerala High Court on Friday vacated its interim stay on the Centre's Television Rating Policy, 2026 provision that excludes "landing page" viewership from official television ratings, clearing the way for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) to implement one of the policy's most closely watched reforms.

Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas lifted the interim protection granted in May after hearing extensive arguments from the Centre, the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), and petitioners All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF) and DEN Networks over whether the policy indirectly enforces restrictions that are already under consideration before the Supreme Court in a separate dispute involving the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

The court had reserved its order earlier this week after a marathon hearing on the maintainability and constitutional validity of Clause 5.4.1 of the Television Rating Policy, 2026, which mandates that viewership generated through landing pages—the default screen displayed when a television set-top box is switched on—will no longer be counted towards official television ratings.

The decision removes the interim roadblock that had kept the provision in abeyance since May 22 and marks a significant victory for the Centre and BARC, both of which argued that landing page impressions artificially inflate television ratings and do not reflect genuine viewer choice.

The writ petition challenging the policy, however, remains pending before the High Court.

Dispute centred on overlap with Supreme Court proceedings

During Tuesday's hearing, senior counsel Arun Kathpalia, appearing for AIDCF and DEN Networks, argued that the MIB was attempting to achieve indirectly what TRAI had been prevented from enforcing directly.

He traced the dispute back to TRAI's 2018 direction restraining broadcasters and distributors from placing rated television channels on landing pages. That direction was subsequently struck down by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), which held that while TRAI possessed jurisdiction over the issue, any restriction on distributors' commercial rights had to be introduced through a formal regulation under Section 36 of the TRAI Act following public consultation, rather than through an administrative direction issued under Section 13.

Kathpalia argued that the Supreme Court, while entertaining TRAI's appeal against the TDSAT judgment, had stayed enforcement of the landing page direction but had not finally adjudicated the underlying dispute.

Against that backdrop, he submitted that the Television Rating Policy effectively strips landing pages of their commercial value by excluding their viewership from official ratings, thereby producing substantially the same outcome without a TRAI regulation.

"Can you do indirectly what directly is prohibited?" counsel argued before the court, maintaining that the policy amounted to a backdoor implementation of restrictions currently under challenge before the Supreme Court.

Petitioners alleged violation of free speech and commercial rights

The petitioners also mounted a constitutional challenge to the policy, contending that television ratings constitute the "foundational currency" of the broadcasting ecosystem, influencing advertising decisions, programming strategy and commercial investments.

They argued that excluding landing page viewership effectively eliminates the commercial incentive for broadcasters and distributors to offer landing page advertising despite the policy continuing to permit such placements.

Relying on Supreme Court judgments including Tata Press vs MTNL, Sakal Papers and Bennett Coleman vs Union of India, the petitioners argued that advertising revenue forms an integral part of the freedom of speech protected under Article 19(1)(a), and any measure substantially impairing that revenue indirectly infringes constitutional rights.

They also rejected the Centre's contention that the writ petition was not maintainable because it challenged an executive policy rather than legislation, arguing that policy decisions remain subject to judicial review when they are arbitrary, violate statutory provisions or infringe fundamental rights.

Centre and BARC defended policy as ratings reform

The Union government countered that the Television Rating Policy merely prescribes audience measurement methodology and does not prohibit broadcasters or distributors from using landing pages.

Appearing for the Centre, the Additional Solicitor General argued that broadcasters remain free to place channels on landing pages and continue selling advertising inventory. The only consequence under the policy, he submitted, is that such exposure will no longer be counted while calculating official television ratings.

The Centre further argued that the litigation pending before the Supreme Court concerns TRAI's regulatory powers over channel placement, whereas the present dispute relates exclusively to audience measurement methodology adopted under the Television Rating Policy.

According to the government, the two issues operate in entirely different regulatory domains.

BARC, which has been impleaded in the proceedings because it will operationalise the revised ratings methodology, also backed the Centre's position.

In its affidavit, BARC argued that landing page exposure constitutes "forced viewing" rather than genuine consumer choice and therefore artificially inflates television ratings. It pointed to its Data Validation Quality Initiative and Landing Page Algorithm introduced in 2020, claiming those exercises had consistently demonstrated distortions caused by landing page impressions.

BARC maintained that the new policy merely codifies an internationally accepted audience measurement principle that only voluntary viewing should be reflected in television ratings.

It also argued that the Supreme Court proceedings concern only TRAI's jurisdiction over channel placement and have no bearing on audience measurement methodology.

Industry significance

The High Court's decision is expected to have significant implications for India's television broadcasting ecosystem.

Landing page placements have long been a commercially valuable tool for broadcasters and distribution platforms because automatically displayed channels generate substantial viewership that directly influences Television Rating Points (TRPs), advertising rates and channel rankings.

The MIB's Television Rating Policy, unveiled earlier this year, seeks to eliminate such automatically generated impressions from official ratings, arguing that they do not represent conscious viewer choices and therefore distort audience measurement.

The policy forms part of a broader overhaul of India's television ratings framework aimed at improving transparency and restoring confidence in audience measurement after years of industry debate over rating anomalies.

Although Friday's order removes the interim stay, the High Court will continue hearing the substantive constitutional challenge. The final outcome of the writ petition is expected to be closely watched by broadcasters, cable operators, DTH platforms, advertisers and BARC, as it will determine the long-term framework governing television audience measurement and the commercial value of landing page placements in India.