Usage of landing page is legal, authorised, says Times Network

It does not indulge in Panel-Tampering or bribing BARC officials, which are cheating practises followed by unscrupulous players as is being unravelled in the ongoing investigation in the TRP Scam for which the former BARC CEO is currently being interrogated in Police custody, said a statement.It has optimised its product, brand and distribution with best-in-class inputs, including landing pages LP, at prevailing market prices to deliver its channels to maximum viewers. It is worthy to note that any increment in viewership is real and genuine.


PTI | New Delhi | Updated: 28-01-2021 16:11 IST | Created: 28-01-2021 15:56 IST
Usage of landing page is legal, authorised, says Times Network
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Leading news broadcaster Times Network on Thursday said usage of a landing page is ''legal and an authorised activity'' and any increment in its viewership is ''real and genuine''.

Times Network - which operates new channels like TIMES NOW, ET NOW and MIRROR NOW - said it has not indulged in any ''Panel-Tampering or bribing'' Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) officials.

''Times Network uses only bonafide and legally valid means to do its business. It does not indulge in Panel-Tampering or bribing BARC officials, which are cheating practises followed by unscrupulous players as is being unravelled in the ongoing investigation in the TRP Scam for which the former BARC CEO is currently being interrogated in Police custody,'' said a statement.

It has optimised its product, brand and distribution with best-in-class inputs, including landing pages (LP), at prevailing market prices to deliver its channels to maximum viewers.

''… It is worthy to note that any increment in viewership is real and genuine. Our advertisers get genuine viewers that they have paid for, unlike on channels who allegedly manipulate ratings, where advertisers would have been duped to pay for artificially inflated numbers and non-existent viewers,'' Times Network said.

Without taking any name, the network said it is deplorable that the broadcaster, inter-alia, accused in the TRP Scam, is attempting to create a wrong impression on the usage of landing pages as part of the TRP manipulation matter, which is now under investigation by the Mumbai Police.

Earlier on Monday this week, Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd had said it is mulling legal action against BARC over its alleged role in the manipulation of TV ratings.

Landing page (LP) refers to being present on the frequency that viewers see as the first channel when they switch on their set-top box attached to their TV set.

It is a standard feature of all digital set-top boxes and is the top advertising space to showcase channels to maximum viewers as it assures placement for better visibility. It is the same when FMCG companies acquire top-shelf space in supermarkets for higher visibility.

According to Times Network, landing pages are a perfectly clean marketing tool permitted by the law in India and very commonly used across the world by broadcasters and advertisers to market themselves to viewers.

While referring to the WhatsApp chats accessed by Mumbai Police, Times Network said the former BARC CEO and others had discussed using influence to block the use of LP by the regulators and thereby remove a valid but expensive hurdle in the scramble for ''higher rank for the said channel'' for lucrative purpose.

Earlier, Times Network had challenged Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) jurisdiction on LP before the TDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal) in December 2018, which was set aside.

The matter is now before the Supreme Court, wherein while staying TDSAT’s Order, the court has directed Trai not to enforce its direction against broadcasters during the pendency of the matter.

''This makes the use of landing pages absolutely legal and an authorised activity,'' it said.

A Landing Page Filtration Algorithm was officially announced by BARC on September 3, 2020, and Times Network has challenged this in Bombay High Court and the matter is sub judice.

''The 44-week Forensic audit is for the period May 2017 to March 2018 when no such Filtration policy was in place and BARC had no mandate to remove Bonafide reach from landing pages. Any explanation that the tampered numbers during the 44-week period of the Forensic Audit were done to remove landing page impact, therefore, is spurious,'' the network said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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