Mumbai: The WhatsApp chat between Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami and Ex-BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta has gone viral on social media. Their chats form a part of the 3,600 pages long supplementary charge sheet by the Mumbai Police in the TRP scam. The chats have reached the public, which has now created a stir on social media.
The WhatsApp chat between Goswami and Dasgupta suggests that the top BARC executives manipulate the rating in favour of these two channels: Republic TV and Republic Bharat. The executive is also seen giving suggestion to Republic TV to boost its television rating points.
On the other hand, Goswami kept Dasgupta updated about government affairs, which included the working of the Information and Broadcast Ministry, and others. A constant flow of communication can be seen through the chats between Goswami and Dasgupta, and Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani and BARC's COO Romil Ramgharia. Both Khanchandani and Ramgharia are out on bail, while Dasgupta is still in judicial custody.
Ramgharia and Dasgupta shared information with the Republic, which they had access to because of their position. In one of their chats, Dasgupta also shared that BARC does not share this level of information with anyone, to which Goswami replied with appreciation.
The chats between them also show that before Dasgupta left BARC, he asked Goswami if he could manage an "influential" position for him in the government.
The TRP scam case came into light when an official of Hansa Research, Nitin Deokar filed a case with the Mumbai Police alleging that television rating points (TRP) were being manipulated. After a thorough investigation on the issue, the Mumbai Police said that Republic TV, which has the highest ratings, was manipulating their ratings. This was done by bribing the households where monitorings machines were placed just to get higher advertising rates. The household was paid Rs 400 to 500 per month to keep certain channels throughout the month.
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