Ratings: Is it the be all and end all?

With rising competition and the need for understanding the consumer interests , media professionals rely on ratings and other audience measurement methods for various critical purposes like programming , media planning , news editing etc . Measurement methods like TRP, IRS, NRS, @Map, and RAM have different mechanisms and scientific techniques to gauge consumer volumes.

The moot point remains the authenticity, accuracy and the reliability of these tools. Another flipside of these tools is that as more and more channels aspire to achieve higher ratings , they follow these misleading results and hence take in correct programming decisions increasing the number of showing broadcasting misleading , provoking and sensational content . Is this over-dependence on ratings a healthy sign for the industry? What are the loopholes in the current mechanism? Is there a need for an alternative system of ratings? And if yes, who should take the initiative? Hence is the industry like a sheep which is led by a misguided shepherd in the form of ratings.