TRP in TV Journalism

Prof. M Zahidul Haque

Prof. M Zahidul Haque

During Eighties, every year on the eve of the Eid-ul-Fitr festival, the Bangladesh Television (BTV) used to produce and air a very popular drama named (as I recall) “Ebar Tini Valo Aachen” (this time he is doing well) written by celebrated dramatist and script writer late Amjad Hossain. It gained so popularity that every BTV viewers in those days (there’re no alternative TV channel) would wait eagerly to watch the special drama on the Eid holiday. It is not known whether the popularity of this drama was measured by Television Rating Point (TRP)? I am afraid; TRP was yet to come to practice in those days.

As in the present days, the number of private TV channels significantly increased in Bangladesh and other countries plus audiences can now watch so many national and international TV channels’ programs including entertainment, news and sports-- the competition between channels and TV programs has increased tremendously. So, the television programs are now regularly adjudged through TRP measurement.

TRP is a metric that signifies a program's success on TV screens. TRP is also known as ‘Target Rating Point’ or ‘Total Rating Point’ according to its use and application. TRP is a TV viewer density measurement tool. It is used to measure the viewership of TV programs and TV channels. TRP is used to evaluate which program has been most viewed on TV screens.

TRP is calculated based on a percentage of the sample audience who watched the program compared to the total audience that could potentially watch it. A program with a greater TRP reflects many users viewing the program. On the basis of TRP, TV channels fixes the priority of putting particular program(s) in line of prime time telecast, which is usually from 7pm to 10 pm. The data is essential to advertisers to measure the impressions of the target audience for a campaign. TRP can be determined by using a tool known as a people meter that is connected to the TV set of a few thousand viewers’ homes. It records the time and programs a viewer watches on a particular day. TRP has become the basis for advertisers to optimize their advertising platforms on TV channels and TV programs.

Meanwhile with the advancement and development in the discipline of Journalism Television or TV Journalism also started functioning with many other branches of journalism including, agricultural  ournalism, health journalism, development journalism, citizen journalism, etc. In television journalism, TRP plays a significant role which includes:

---TRP can help in setting news priorities; TV Channels may prioritize sensational or entertainment-driven news to attract viewership.

---TRP reflects public interest, pushing channels to focus on topics resonating with viewers.

Journalists, often use TRP data to analyze trends in media consumption or to determine public interest in certain topics, which could shape selection and content focus. TRP insights can sometimes inform journalistic content decisions.

Through TRP measurement, the concerned TV authority can gauge the popularity of various educational and agricultural programs. In Bangladesh a number of agriculture related programs are produced and aired by BTV and other private channels; whether farmers are watching these programs, if the time of telecast is appropriate, etc. can be ascertain by TRP calculations and the TV Channels can take proper action on the basis of the TRP measurement results.

In conclusion, it is to be admitted that television plays a vital role in delivering news and current events to the people. The immediacy and visual nature of TV news coverage allows journalists to bring stories to life, providing context and impact that can be harder to achieve through other media. The TRP helps in measuring the viewership of TV programs and Channels. However TRP might sometime give faulty result because of sample bias, user non-compliance, manipulation etc. Overemphasis on TRP can cause interruption to the normal course of journalism. Hence, proper measurement and evaluation of TRP can help in raising TV viewership and credibility of TV programs and content.

(Prof. M Zahidul Haque is a former Faculty and Dean of Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Bangla Agriculural University and regular contributor to the GREENWATCH, Dhaka)