Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi said in Lok Sabha that when TRP started in 2000 only TAM, which has an arrangement with an American Company, come forward with some credibility but his ministry was now open to the idea of ensuring more coverage and allowing more sample surveys to make TRPs a complete exercise.
Allaying fears of members that TAM had commercial interest as also the private TV companies which at times "manipulate" data to get large chunk of an estimated Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) advertisement revenue, he said DD, as a terrestrial network, had the highest rating and its commercial revenue was continuously going up.
"We are not suffering in advertisement. We are also incurring profit," he said but admitted that in terms of satellite and cable TV networking DD News was lagging behind some of the private channels.
In this context, the Minister announced that a major upgradation and technology improvement programme was underway to ensure that the quality of DD reception at homes was as good as its competitors.