Key Points :
- Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director of Bajaj Auto announced that his company has blacklisted 3 channels for advertising without naming the channels.
- He said that his company has never endorsed toxicity and will never support any such medium that promotes hate mongering.
- The Mumbai Police Commissioner on Thursday named three news channels that have been found to be manipulating TRPs and paying households to watch the channel.
In a conversation with CNBC TV18, Eminent Industrialist Rajiv Bajaj has said that his company, Bajaj Auto, has blacklisted three channels for advertisement. He said that his company’s brand has never been associated with anything they thought was toxic to society. The Managing Director of Bajaj Auto made this announcement just hours after the Mumbai Police held a press conference on a ‘false TRP racket’ by some television channels.
“A strong brand is a foundation on which you build a strong business. At the end of the day, the purpose of a strong business is to also contribute to the society… Our brand has never been associated with anything we feel is a source of toxicity in the society,” Bajaj told the news channel without mentioning any names.
“Out teams can spot channels and newspapers that are toxic and hate mongering in the society and we can’t find it in ourselves to continue to be supportive of such a medium no matter what repercussions it may have on the business,” he said.
Other Leading Advertisers such as Parle, Future Group, Maruti Suzuki and Amul had also warned of reviewing their ad spend on news channels using unnecessary aggression if they did not improve.
On Thursday, Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh held a press conference to name three Mumbai-based News Channels – Republic TV, Fakt Marathi and Box Cinema – were found to be manipulating TRPs by paying households to show higher television rating points (TRPs). The Mumbai Police announced that the owners of the two Marathi channels have been arrested.
Republic TV CFO was summoned by the Mumbai Police and is scheduled to appear before the Mumbai Police today. Republic TV has issued a statement refuting all allegations and asked the Commissioner to apologise threatening to file a criminal defamation case against him.
