Mumbai Police Says Arnab Caused 431 Crore Loss to Times Now due to TRP Scam

#arnabgoswami #republictv #timesnow #mumbaipolice

For me, this story is as surreal as it gets.

The man who I started my career with - Arnab Goswami - has been accused of cheating and causing a massive loss to the channel - Times Now - where I started my career, under him. Yes,
the Mumbai Police has charged Arnab Goswami of conspiring with former Broadcast Audience Research Council chief Partho Dasgupta to manipulate the TRPs causing losses to rival channel Times Now. The police said this was done using dual logical channel numbers or the LCNs to jack up ratings, and indirectly paying people to watch Republic Network channels. The police have also named Arnab as an accused in the case related to alleged tampering of TRPs by a few TV channels.

On Tuesday, The Mumbai Police filed the second supplementary charge sheet, running into a massive 1 thousand 9 hundred and 12 pages, adding names of Arnab Goswami and six others as accused in the case.

Mumbai Police's chargesheet reads, "It has been established that the accused colluded and hatched a conspiracy with the intention of benefiting Republic TV and Republic Bharat through dual LCNs by violating regulations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

But what exactly is the LCN?

LCN is an identification number assigned to a TV channel, and having dual LCNs allows a channel to be placed outside their genres by distributors and helps push up the ratings. The case, in which the Mumbai Police first launched an FIR in October 2020, relates to a few channels allegedly manipulating TRPs to boost their viewership and thus their advertising revenue. Because higher the TRP, higher the money that the channel charges the brands to advertise on it.

On the specific question of Republic TV showing on more than one channel, Arnab said, "Issues concerning the placement of channels are looked into by the distribution team of ARG and the decision-making power on such issues lies with them. Neither I, nor anyone else from the editorial team is involved, leave alone instruct regarding the placement of our channels, which is handled by the competent team.”

On questions like illegal payments to DTH operators and MSOs, Arnab excused himself saying that the matter was not within his domain and that his “dominant role” is to discharge editorial functions only.

Arnab has claimed that the chats have been "selectively reproduced" out of context to "create prejudice, colour the investigation" and discredit him. He also said that the chats are not admissibile as evidence. But the Mumbai police have claimed that Arnab Goswami has “accepted” the chats.

The Mumbai Police had recovered these WhatsApp conversations from Partho Dasgupta.

The charge sheet also said Times Now allegedly unjustly suffered losses, while Arnab's company got undue benefits because of the relations between him and Dasgupta. The exact line from the chargesheet reads, “Times Now suffered losses of 431 crores between June 2017 and March 2018 when Partho Dasgupta was working with BARC.”

The charge sheet also said, that Arnab's company indirectly paid people to watch Republic TV and Republic Bharat. The barometers which were installed by BARC through Hansa Research, record the television viewing of these households, based on which TRP is calculated.

The Mumbai Police also alleged that Partho Dasgupta received kickbacks for manipulating TRPs of Republic TV and keeping it at the number one position. The police said in the chargesheet, "From the money received from Goswami, Partho Dasgupta bought expensive things, jewellery and different ornaments of gold and silver, which have been recovered from him.”

Arnab Goswami has been in the eye of the storm, ever since last year, when he started reporting on the Sushant Singh Rajput case, which was also extensively covered by Times Now. Arnab's also been in and out of jail since then in a 2018 case for abetment of suicide and his constant criticism of the Maha Vikas Aghadi Government in Maharashtra has often hit nationwide headlines.

What are your thoughts on this irony of news presenters becoming news makers and I would love to know which are the news channels that you follow on your TV.

Or do you get most of your news fix from the print media and from independent sources on social media, like myself.

Truth be told, ever since I moved to the UAE, I have stopped following Indian news channels neither have I opted for the Indian channels package on my TV. I get a lot of my news, the old school way - through the print media and a few of my trusted former colleagues, who still continue to follow the ethics of truthful and unbiased journalism.

If you are in the UAE, chances are you would have heard me on UAE's leaading radio station - 89.1 Radio 4, where I present news from around the world, every hour.

You can connect with me on Instagram

Видео Mumbai Police Says Arnab Caused 431 Crore Loss to Times Now due to TRP Scam канала Reviewron [Ronak Kotecha]