In 1998, justice Ranganath Misra, then the chief justice of India, observed that we must be concerned about contents of channels and their priorities, because contents determined by ratings amounts to ‘an Undeclared war on an unprepared people’. ‘television ratings’ is the most controversial element of the media business in India. It is a surprise how no one before analysed this untold story of tips. The story of how a great National hoax was perpetrated on 21st century India, without even the government questioning it; how the National broadcaster, Doordarshan was demolished and murdoch-led channels promoted in India is a spell-binding read. With just 500 imported meters, how could a foreign company claim that its TRP was a viewership indicator for one billion plus people?