India's New TV Rating Policy 2026 Integrates OTT, Expands Measurement

This overhaul of India's TV rating system signals a critical shift towards comprehensive audience measurement across fragmented platforms. Integrating OTT data into TRP calculations provides advertisers and content creators with a more accurate picture of total viewership, moving beyond traditional linear TV metrics. The expanded sample size aims to improve data reliability and better represent India's diverse audience, allowing for more informed investment and programming strategies. What to watch: The industry will closely monitor BARC India's implementation timeline for unified, cross-platform ratings and the impact on ad spending across linear and digital channels.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) officially notified the TV Rating Policy 2026, revamping a decade-old system (Economictimes, March 2026). This policy mandates cross-screen measurement and excludes landing page viewership from ratings, a practice where channels paid for default placement when a set-top box was switched on (BestMediaInfo, March 2026). The MIB initially set a 30-day window for existing agencies to reapply under the new guidelines, a timeline that was later extended to 60 days, giving BARC India until May 26, 2026, to comply (BestMediaInfo, May 2026). BARC India is preparing to introduce a unified audience-measurement system, combining linear television and OTT platforms (BizAsiaLive, March 2026). The policy requires BARC to expand its panel to 80,000 metered homes within six months of the March 27, 2026, notification, setting a September 2026 deadline for fully technology-neutral ratings. The timeline for BARC to reach 80,000 metered homes was further extended to nine months, now due by December 27, 2026 (BestMediaInfo, May 2026). The new framework also reduced the minimum net worth requirement for new rating agencies to ₹5 crore from ₹20 crore, aiming to lower entry barriers and foster competition (BestMediaInfo, March 2026). Additionally, the requirement for independent directors on the board of a rating agency was eased from 50% to 33%, a significant concession for BARC India, an industry-led body (BestMediaInfo, May 2026).