3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Mar 28, 2026 12:38 AM IST
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Friday released a new policy to regulate television ratings in India with the aim of ensuring transparency, independence and accountability in audience measurement.
According to the TV Ratings Policy 2026, viewership arising out of Landing Page should not be counted in viewership measurement. It also states that agencies must scale up their operations to improve data accuracy and publish their detailed methodology and anonymised data on their websites to ensure transparency.
“The policy defines clear standards for the registration, operation, audit, and oversight of agencies providing TV rating services, to ensure transparency, independence and accountability in audience measurement,” it stated.
The policy eases entry norms for companies willing to register as a TV rating agency by reducing the net worth requirement to Rs 5 crore from Rs 20 crore.
It also provides that at least 50% of the Board of Directors must be Independent Directors with no ties to broadcasters/advertisers/advertising agencies to ensure neutrality, while adding that the agencies are prohibited from engaging in consultancy roles that could create conflict of interests.
The policy states that agencies must scale up their operations to 80,000 metered homes within 18 months (6 months for existing rating agency), eventually reaching 1,20,000 homes, to improve data accuracy.
“Measurement must be technology-neutral, capturing data across Cable, DTH, OTT, and connected TVs. The data shall be captured from all the TV viewing screens of the metered homes,” it states.
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“Furthermore, all operations must strictly comply with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 to safeguard viewer privacy,” it added.
The policy also provides for a mandatory dual-audit system, featuring quarterly internal audits and annual independent external audits. It adds that the ministry will also constitute an Audit and Oversight Team for periodic field inspections.
The policy calls for agencies to appoint a nodal officer to resolve complaints within 10 days and establish an appellate authority for escalated disputes.
It specifically states that any viewership arising out of the landing page not to be counted in the viewership measurement, even though it states that landing page can be used as a marketing tool.
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“The Broadcasters shall disclose the availability of its channel on the landing page, if any, to the rating agency,” the policy states.
The policy states that non-compliance will attract graded penalties, ranging from temporary suspensions of ratings to the cancellation of registration for repeat violations.
It also states that TV distribution platforms or OTT platforms may publish periodic viewership data of broadcasters/channels being played on their platforms, on their websites, without obtaining registration or permission under these guidelines.
