Sakshi Tampered Ratings During Elections?

Telugu News Channels’ space is highly polarized. There is no channel that can claim unbiased and every other channel is polarized towards one party or the other.

The Top two channels – TV9 and NTV may change their spots but their place is mostly cemented at the top.

It is widely believed that the rankings of the other channels – Pro-TDP and Pro-YSR Congress channels change as per the mood of the public in Andhra Pradesh.

During 2022-24, the ratings largely reflected the mood of the public.

We used to see the Pro-TDP channels after TV9 and NTV and Sakshi used to be languishing at some eighth spot. If we look at the election results, the mood is rightly reflected.

But then, in the last 1-2 months before the elections, Sakshi’s ratings suddenly surged. We used to see Sakshi in the third or fourth spot.

Now the elections are over and Sakshi is back to its eighth position.

It is in the eighth position in the Week 29 Ratings list (15+ Age Category) released today.

TV5 and ABN are in the third and fourth positions. Even ETV AP which does not care about Ratings is ahead of Sakshi in the Sixth position.

Media circles say that this is the reality of Sakshi even before the elections and they suspect the channel tampering the ratings in the election season to create the perception of YSR Congress winning.