TRP (Television Rating point) is rating system to gauge the popularity of TV program. It indicates the percentage of target audience reached by a campaign or advertisement through a communication medium.
In earlier time major chunk of the audience preferred to watch TV program through the traditional mode. TRP method was first used by Doordarshan and it has been continuously used since then.
In recent times number of viewers in the past few years has shifted to the online platforms to watch content. With the rapid changes happening TV is also continuously reevaluating itself for the better. Nowadays the DTH providers like Tata Sky have come up with their apps as to satisfy the demands of clients on their mobile phones as well as tablets so that they can increase their customer base.
In my opinion shows watched online are easier to track since the viewers must access the show via a website which likely has a counter embedded into tracking downloads. The shows are funded by advertisers who want to know how many eyes have seen their ads. This information is probably tracked online and put together to receive a rating point so the broadcasters know what to charge for the advertising spots.
Looking at all changes that have come over the years in the Television world and gradual shift of the audience towards an online medium to watch the content offered on the OTT platform. I believe TRP shouldn’t be the only mode of measurement of success of the particular TV show. The online popularity of the show should be taken into consideration across various OTT platforms like MX player, Voot and Hotstar etc. Many shows with brilliant scripts and well written characters have been forced to go off-air in the middle because of the low TRP.
