With the ministry of information and broadcasting directing the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to stop publishing television ratings across news and non-news genres until its licence is renewed under the Television Ratings Policy, 2026, the broadcasting industry is scrambling to find alternative ways to sustain advertising operations.
Broadcasters and media agencies are increasingly relying on historical BARC ratings, DTH (direct-to-home) and cable distribution data, OTT analytics such as watch time and unique viewers, and campaign performance metrics including sales and website traffic. While most large broadcasters already used these alongside BARC, they have now become far more important in advertiser negotiations.
The bigger concern is what happens if the suspension drags on. Without a common, independently verified benchmark, pricing TV inventory gets harder, negotiations take longer, and rates—especially for smaller broadcasters—could come under pressure. The uncertainty could also push ad budgets toward digital.
Broadcasters including Sony, Zee and JioStar did not respond to Mint's queries.
Stopgap measures
"Broadcasters can rely on historical ratings, genre-level trends, audience composition data, past campaign performance, and cross-platform metrics from digital and connected-TV inventory," said Alay Razvi, managing partner, Accord Juris.
In practice, many already use these inputs in negotiations, but they do not fully replace a common industry benchmark. The market can function for a while on legacy data and internal analytics, but that is a stopgap rather than a complete substitute, Razvi added.
Ritu Dhawan, managing director, India TV, said established networks with a consistent ratings history have the advantage of using their long-term performance track record as a credible reference point in advertiser discussions.
"While the industry has been exploring future alternatives, including hybrid models combining Panel data backed with large scale digital data, no standardized, independently audited system is currently available," she said, adding that the timing of the suspension is particularly significant as it coincides with the festive advertising season, when brands finalize major campaigns and broadcasters launch marquee content to maximize audience reach.
Advertiser caution
These alternative metrics provide useful insights but cannot fully replace an independent, industry-wide ratings system, agreed Akshat Pande, managing partner, Alpha Partners.
As a result, advertisers are seeking greater transparency, negotiating more aggressively on pricing, and placing greater emphasis on measurable campaign outcomes. Some brands are also allocating a larger share of their advertising budgets to digital platforms, where audience measurement is more robust, Pande added.
"With BARC ratings suspended, the industry has temporarily lost its primary currency for TV measurement—and there's no true substitute in place. In the interim, broadcasters and advertisers are leaning on proxies like historical data, and ER-based (effective rate) deals to keep business moving," Rupali Chavan, senior vice-president and head of business at media agency Mudra, agreed.
However, the impact isn't uniform, she pointed out. Categories driven by ER (fixed-rate deals) are relatively stable, while CPRP-led (cost per rating point) planning has taken a hit due to the lack of validation of planning and performance KPIs. As a result, some advertisers have chosen to pause campaigns and wait for clarity, while ER-based advertisers continue with ongoing spends where dependence on ratings is lower.
Digital gains
Brands are relatively calm for now since budgets span TV, digital and print—but that calm belongs to advertisers, not broadcasters, who lose pricing power daily, according to a senior broadcast executive who expects the suspension to last at least two months. News channels still benefit from government advertising, the executive said, but entertainment and sports broadcasters are likely to suffer as major advertisers, particularly FMCG companies, shift spend to digital.
"This lands right in the festive planning window, so every week without ratings is a week digital gets to look more reliable by comparison. TV won't lose the quarter, it'll lose the habit, and habits don't come back just because the data does," said Amit Dhawan, co-founder at Crack'd & VibeTheory.ai.
Many also believe digital platforms such as YouTube and Meta stand to benefit if the suspension persists.
"If this continues more than a month, big advertisers are likely to lower spends for TV and move gradually," Partho Dasgupta, managing partner of Thoth Advisors and former chief executive officer of BARC India, said.
Beyond BARC
To be sure, industry experts believe the real challenge lies in accountability. Without a reliable way to measure performance or validate KPIs, confidence in television planning takes a dent. If the suspension continues, networks could see a cautious approach from advertisers, more renegotiations and a broader shift in how television effectiveness is evaluated.
According to Ashish Sehgal, chief executive officer, Times Television Network and chief growth officer, Times Media & Entertainment, the disruption also presents an opportunity for the industry to evolve towards a more holistic approach to measuring media value by combining television, digital and other audience engagement metrics to give advertisers a more comprehensive picture of campaign effectiveness.
Pooja Kapadia, partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, said the real issue is not the absence of data, but the absence of a common currency that reduces information asymmetry by providing a verifiable benchmark for audience preferences.
Advertising markets stand to benefit most when they can rely on an independent, transparent and comparable measurement standard, she said.
"Large networks will lean on relationships and brand equity. Mid-tier broadcasters lose their proof of value. And campaign accountability becomes a conversation based on belief rather than evidence," said Girish 'Bobby' Talwar, founder of Rebellion—a firm specializing in music licensing, rights management and content creation.
However, the bigger point is this: even when BARC returns, the industry needs a measurement framework built for how audience behaviour is evolving across television, OTT, YouTube, creator content, podcasts, live experiences and commerce in a single sitting.
"That is where the real strategic value of measurement will come from over the next decade," Talwar added.