Why the Roots of The TRP 'Scam' Go Much Deeper Than We Know

<div>In the context of television in India, three letters – TRP – has gained a rather dubious reputation over the years. Television Rating Points or TRP was often synonymous with a compromise in the quality of television content. However, since Mumbai Police’s press conference which named Republic TV as having tampered with TRP measurement system, the news has touched a raw nerve among the news channels. <br> <br> </div> <div>As the nation wanted to know what exactly the whole controversy was, primetime debates across channels had a variety of answers - a “scam”, “scandal”, “<em>dhokha</em>”, “cheating”, “<em>saazish</em>”, “fraud”,  “racket”, “chori” and “vishwaasghaat”. <br> <br> </div> <div>However, while Republic TV’s CFO S Sundaram skipped a summon by the police on Saturday citing a pending petition before the Supreme Court, news channels have framed this as an issue of one bad apple ruining the basket, media veterans explain why it is a much deeper issue pertaining to the entire news industry with political, social and economic implications. <br> <br> </div>