Practice of misleading advertisers will finally stop: NBF hails MIB’s landing page plan

The News Broadcasters Federation (NBF) has welcomed MIB’s amendments that proposes that the viewership generated from the Landing Page will no longer be counted in audience measurement, saying some channels have used landing pages to mislead advertisers.

“The News Broadcasters Federation welcomes the decision of the MIB to seek a review of the ongoing measurement of landing pages and to seek responses to the proposal to ban the measurement of landing pages once and for all,” said NBF President Arnab Goswami.

“Some channels have made the use of landing pages as a strategic tool to mislead the advertisers and most unfortunately BARC has so far failed to put a stop on this. NBF has been engaging with all stakeholders constructively and we believe that by ending landing pages measurement finally, this bad practice will end,” he shared.

“We also hope that broadcasters who use this tool as an artificial measure to spike ratings stop doing so. The NBF stands in solidarity with independent news broadcasters across the country on this issue,” Goswami added.

Also read: MIB proposes TRP policy changes: Landing Page not to be counted in audience measurement

MIB’s latest TRP draft reinstates bar on broadcasters owning stakes in rating agencies

MIB has issued draft amendments to the policy guidelines for TV rating agencies and proposed reforms. 

Under the proposed changes, viewership generated from the ‘Landing Page’ will no longer be counted in audience measurement, with the Ministry clarifying that the landing page may only be used as a marketing tool. 

The move addresses long-standing industry concerns over inflated Television Rating Points (TRPs) caused by default channel placements on set-top boxes.

Under the revised draft:

• Only companies registered in India under the Companies Act, 2013 can apply for registration.
• Board members and promoters cannot have any business ties with broadcasters.
• Cross-holdings are capped at 20%—no entity or promoter may hold 20 percent or more equity in both a rating agency and a broadcaster, or in more than one rating agency operating in the same market.

These restrictions will not apply to self-regulatory bodies such as the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) that directly manage audience-measurement activities.

The ministry has also proposed a significant expansion in sample size:

• A minimum panel size of 80,000 households must be achieved within six months of notification.
• Thereafter, the panel must grow by 10,000 households every year until it reaches 1.2 lakh, with flexibility for further expansion based on business needs