ITV

Tag: Hansa Research Group

  • TRP scam: Interim relief to Arnab Goswami extended till 16 March.

    TRP scam: Interim relief to Arnab Goswami extended till 16 March.

    New Delhi: The Mumbai police has told the Bombay high court that its assurance of not taking any coercive action against Republic TV's editor-in-chief journalist Arnab Goswami in the TRP scam case will continue till 16 March, news agency PTI reported on Friday.

    The court was hearing a petition filed by ARG Outlier Media, that runs Republic TV channels, which had challenged the FIR and the chargesheet filed by the Mumbai police for alleged manipulation of television rating points (TRP).

    Appearing on behalf of the Mumbai police, senior counsel Kapil Sibal told a division bench of justices SS Shinde and Manish Pitale that the police's earlier statement of no coercive action against Goswami and other employees of ARG Outlier Media will be extended till 16 March.

    The case was adjourned for next hearing on 16 March, when the court will hear ARG's main prayers challenging the police's investigation. It has also sought the transfer of probe to an independent agency.

    ARG media and Goswami had approached the high court last year alleging that the entire case was malafide, and claimed that they have been targeted for Republic TV's reportage in the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, and the Palghar lynching case.

    Early this year, the Mumbai police had filed two affidavits in the case, saying it had not targeted Republic TV or its employees. The police had said its probe was not a result of any political vendetta and that there was evidence to show that Goswami had allegedly connived with senior officials of BARC to rig the TRPs of Republic TV.

    The scam had come to light in October last year when Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) lodged a complaint with the Mumbai police through Hansa Research Group, alleging that certain television channels were rigging TRP numbers. Since then, 15 arrests have been made in the case, the most prominent being former BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta, who recently got bail. Dasgupta has been granted bail, subject to his furnishing a bond of Rs 2 lakh.

  • TRP Scam: Hansa Research moves Bombay High Court, claims harassment from Mumbai crime branch officials

    TRP Scam: Hansa Research moves Bombay High Court, claims harassment from Mumbai crime branch officials

    New Delhi: Hansa Research Group has moved the Bombay HC, alleging that Mumbai Police’s crime branch officers probing the case are pressuring its employees to “retract” a report, based on which Republic TV had claimed it was not among channels named in the TRP Scam case. It has urged the court to transfer the probe to CBI or another state agency, accusing the Crime Branch of being “biased”.

    The media report said that the group has filed a petition and the four petitioners – Hansa Research, its director Narsimhan K Swamy, CEO Praveen Nijhara and deputy GM Nitin Deokar – contended that since October 12, several employees of the company have been repeatedly called to the crime branch office and were pressured to make a “false statement” disowning the report telecast on Republic TV on October 10 – referred to as the “Hansa report”.

    They mention that they are caught in the crossfire in a “battle-like situation between Mumbai Police and certain sections from media for the last few months…. It is evident that the petitioners are being used by police and certain section from media as means to attack each other and petitioners are suffering from collateral damage in this.”

    The petition further stated: “Harassment caused to the petitioners by respondent no. 1 (Assistant Inspector Sachin Vaze) is only with a view to extract a statement, albeit false, from them that the…purported Hansa report shown on Republic TV since October 10 is not that of the petitioner no. 1 but a fake one.”

    Read more news on Hansa Research

    The petitioners stated that they told crime branch officers repeatedly that they could not confirm or deny the report since they were not aware what the ‘Hansa Report’ cited by Republic TV was, as the channel had not sought their permission or informed them about using the report, and only parts of the report were telecast. They said that they will have to see the entire document to ascertain its veracity.

    The petition names assistant police inspector (Crime Branch) Sachin Vaze, Mumbai Police commissioner Parambir Singh, assistant CP and chief investigating officer Shashank Sandbhor, Maharashtra government and the CBI as respondents.

    The petition stated that on October 26, four directors of the company and one vice-president (finance) were present at the crime branch office. The petitioners claimed that while the crime branch officers again told the petitioners to deny ‘Hansa report’ as fake, they also disallowed their lawyer to enter the premises. They were then informed that they were being arrested and their phones were seized, the petition further stated.

    The petitioners alleged that since October 12, when Nijhara and Deokar first went to the crime branch office, their employees have been “kept detained there for over 200 man hours for no justifiable reason”. The only objective of the crime branch, the petition alleged, is to “keep them detained and pressurise and frustrate them so that they make a false statement according to the desire of respondent no 1 (Vaze) for reasons best known to him.”

    The petition is likely to be heard by the court later this week.

    Earlier, the group moved the city civil court seeking an order restraining Republic TV from citing the report as ‘Hansa Report’ since they were not informed by the channel. The city civil court, however, refused to grant the injunction.

    On 6 October, Hansa Research Group lodged an FIR against its employee Vishal Bhandari after he was found allegedly accepting payments illegally to make certain households watch specific TV channels, allegedly to fudge TV TRP ratings. Several arrests have been made in the case. 

  • Times’ Vineet Sodhani joins Spatial Access as CEO

    Times’ Vineet Sodhani joins Spatial Access as CEO

    MUMBAI: Spatial Access, a media audit company, has a new leader at the helm; Vineet Sodhani has taken over as the CEO.

    Spatial Access co-founder and chairperson Meenakshi Menon is excited about the transformation that is under way. She says: “As media moves into a new era of complexity, Spatial Access, under the new leadership, will simplify it for its clients with custom solutions, many of which will be first time in the industry. With Vineet (Sodhani)’s strong background in research and strategy, we will provide valuable insights, a lot of it in the public domain, so that the industry gets more value.”

    Sodhani has two decades’ experience in media strategy, sales and marketing in India and the US. In the past, he has worked for Times Television Network, Starcom Mediavest Group, Hansa Research Group, AC Nielsen and ORG-MARG. In 2012, he co-authored Guide to Indian Markets and is presently working on his second book.

    Sodhani says: “Spatial Access has that rare combination of a great customer and knowledge base. This strength will be used to drive value for every rupee spent on advertising, be it ATL, BTL or digital. We will raise some critical questions, for example, transparency, ROI and wastage.”

  • Ormax Media appoints Venugopal Bhamidipati as Insights Head

    Mumbai: Media insights firm Ormax Media has strengthened its research team with the appointment of Venugopal Bhamidipati as Insights Head – Print, Radio & Branded Entertainment.

    He will be based out of Mumbai and will be reporting to Ormax Media CEO Shailesh Kapoor.

    Kapoor said, “Our print and radio work has seen significant growth over the last two years. In the area of branded entertainment, we have been doing extensive work on evaluating the effectiveness of sponsorships and media associations for brand and their media agencies. With Venugopal’s diverse experience, we are ready to tap the true potential of these domains.”

    Bhamidipati said, “Ormax Media offers the best of both the worlds, consumer insights and media expertise. I look forward to working with the team at Ormax in these exciting times for the media & entertainment industry.”

    Bhamidipati comes with six years of research industry experience, having worked with IMRB International, Nielsen and Hansa Research Group.

    In his last assignment, Venugopal worked as Strategic Planning Director at Publicis Captial.