ITV

Tag: Arnab Goswami

  • Republic TV helps increase English News genre viewership

    Republic TV helps increase English News genre viewership

    BENGALURU: Arnab Ranjan Goswami is one of the most recognised faces on Indian Television. Earlier, as the editor-in-chief of the Times Network flagship English News channel Times Now, Goswami raised the hackles of many during his shows on the channel. He quit Times Now in November last year to start another English News channel. Goswami is now the managing director and editor-in-chief of Republic TV, which launched on 6 May 2017. Republic TV is now the bête noire of Times Now.

    Goswami still continues to shout down, to run down panelists who don’t agree with him, who don’t listen to him, who don’t see him eye-to-eye. One may like him, hate him, but one just can’t ignore him.

    And this seems to work for viewers, going by the ratings that Republic TV has been getting. Right from the first week of its launch (week 19 of 2017 – Saturday 6 May 2017 to Friday 12 May 2017) the channel has topped Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) ratings in its genre.

    Now, to some background. Republic TV has not had a welcome from its peer English News channels – various attempts have been made to make the channel’s presence in the English News genre as unhealthy as possible. Just a couple of weeks after the launch of Republic TV – in week 21, its peer Indian English news channels had withdrawn their watermarks which made it difficult for BARC to fairly measure ratings for the English News genre – the channels didn’t want BARC to measure the new entrant’s ratings claiming that Republic TV was using unfair means to garner more ratings. BARC refused to kowtow, saying that it was only a measuring agency, and not a compliance agency. For a week, ratings of Indian English news channels were not published by BARC, until the erring channels returned to the BARC audience measurement fold.

    Republic TV has been topping the BARC weekly ratings charts (All India (U+R) : NCCS AB : Males 22+ Individuals) for 15 weeks (14 weeks excluding week 21) since its launch. Republic TV and Times Now are the top two channels in the genre. The other channels – be it India Today Television, NDTV 24×7 or CNN News 18 have so far managed to garner half or lesser viewership than Times Now during the first 33 weeks of 2017.

    In week 19 – the week that it was launched, Republic TV garnered 2.117 million weekly impressions – the second highest ratings ever by a channel in 2017. Week 19 was an ordinary week, and yet the ratings for its biggest competitor and Goswami’s previous employer – Times Now rose by 78 percent to 1.148 million impressions as compared to its week 18 ratings of 0.645 million weekly impressions. The combined ratings of the other 4 channels besides Republic TV that belong to top 5 English News channels list in week 19 (Times Now, NDTV 24×7, India Today Television CNN)   were just a little more than those of Republic TV at 2.165 million weekly impressions. The combined ratings of the English News genre in week 19 of 2017 were 4.282 million, the second highest ratings ever by the genre’s top 5 channels in 2017.

    The only other time that a channel obtained higher ratings was in week 11 of 2017 – (Saturday, 11 March 2017 to Friday 17 March 2017) – this was the week in which election results for five states were announced. Times Now garnered 2.282 million weekly impressions in that week – note Republic TV was not present on television at that time. The combined weekly impressions of the top 5 English News channels in week 11 were 4.897 million– the highest combined ratings obtained by the top 5 channels of the genre to date in 2017.

    Until week 18, the average ratings of the English News genre were 1.884 million weekly impressions. Between weeks 19 and 33 (excluding week 22 ratings) the genre’s average ratings have gone up by 65 percent to 3.107 million weekly impressions. Please refer to the figure below:

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    The other English News channels have also gained because of Republic TV. The average ratings of the other 4 channels from BARC’s top 5 English News channels list between week 19 and week 33 (excluding Republic TV, from week 19 onward) was 1.9 million weekly impressions. The number may seem just a little more than average weekly impressions of 1.884 million of the top 5 English News channels until week18 – note this is the combined number for 5 channels, while average of 1.9 million weekly impressions after week 18 is the number for 4 channels.

    Republic TV’s closest competitor Times Now has seen a 26 percent increase in its average weekly ratings for 14 weeks between weeks 19 and 33 of 2017 (excluding week 21) to 0.947 million weekly impressions as compared to the average of 0.751 million weekly impressions the channel had for 18 weeks – between weeks 1 to 18 of 2017. Over the past few weeks, Times Now ratings have been closing in on Republic TV’s ratings. Will the channel be able to claw back to its numero uno position? Only time can tell.

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  • Views-based journalism scores, Sun TV’s Udaya News to cease ops

    Views-based journalism scores, Sun TV’s Udaya News to cease ops

    MUMBAI: Every business and television channel faces competition sooner or later. Competing companies generally bring in better products. But, Udaya News, the first 24×7 Kannada channel that ruled the roost for over 15 years, saw a decline as rival channels presented stories with strong views — a la Arnab Goswami. 

    Placed at the sixth position among the Kannada-language news channels as per the latest BARC India data, it is on the verge of closure. However, other Sun channels such as Udaya Movies, Udaya TV and Udaya Comedy will continue operations.

    Ratings of Udaya News had started declining after a series of news channels came in, in the past few years and the former failed to put up a fight. 

    Karnataka viewers in the 1990s relied entirely on Doordarshan till Udaya News lauched in 1998; it is now shutting down owing to huge losses. In a letter addressed to the Karnataka government secretary, owner of Udaya News, Sun Network stated that the channel would cease operations on 24 October, and 73 employees would lose their jobs.

    Udaya News enjoyed a wonderful viewership till the rise of TV 9 Kannada — the leader today, followed by Public TV and Suvarna News. 

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  • Stunning victory for Republic TV, Republic watches Times Now

    Stunning victory for Republic TV, Republic watches Times Now

    BENGALURU: As news television channels flashed and experts sliced, diced, hashed and rehashed the Supreme Court judgment holding the right to privacy as a fundamental right, the two premier English news television channels continued their own hashing and rehashing of ratings data on air. 

    Examples of the level of mockery that the two channels have made in the name of breaking news are in the title of this story – the first sentence of the title was flashed quite obviously on the Arnab Goswami lead Republic TV and the second one again obviously on Times Now.

    Here is an example of what Times Now viewers saw on their idiot boxes just post 1100 am this morning:

    Some of the prominent flashes on Times Now were statements such as The Republic watches Times Now; Victory for Honesty and Hard Word; India Rejects Stale and Biased Journalism; India endorses Honesty & credibility; Stories that force you to watch; etc.

    Times Now flashed relative share for English News genre: Times Now 42  percent; Republic TV 27 percent; India Today Television 10 percent; CNN News 18 – 8 percent; NDTV 24X 7 10 percent

    And this is what Republic TV viewers saw on their idiot boxes:

    200% greater than Times Now in primetime; Stunning victory for Republic TV; 15 weeks non-stop number 1; Stunning number 1 run continues; All India number 1 again; Forced and fake reach demolished; News wins, Content wins; Sensational leadership continues; Competition demolished in all India numbers.

    Republic TV indicated primetime (2100 to 2300 hours) ratings as 43 percent, 23.27 percent Times Now; CNN News 18 -11.10 percent; India Today Television 12.99 percent; NDTV 24×7 -8.68 percent; News X 1 percent.

    Both the channels have referred to Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly data for week 33 of 2017.

    Also Read:

    Times Now narrows gap with Republic TV, again

    Republic TV & Pushkar’s kin restrained, hearing on 21 Sept

    Times Now closes in on Republic TV

    Arnab Goswami told to respect Tharoor’s right, Delhi HC hearing on 16 Aug

  • Republic TV & Pushkar’s kin restrained, hearing on 21 Sept

    MUMBAI: The Delhi High Court has asked Republic TV and the kin of late Sunanda Pushkar not to indulge in “name calling” in connection with her death case but said there could be a possibility of some posturing from both sides.

    The court was hearing the Congress leader Shashi Tharoor’s plea seeking to restrain journalist-editor Arnab Goswami and his TV channel from alleged misreporting on his wife’s death, PTI reported. Pushkar was found dead in a south Delhi five-star hotel suite on the night of 17 January, 2014, in mysterious circumstances.

    Justice Manmohan made the above observation after lawyers accused each other of not being careful while tweeting about the case as well as about each other.

    The court has now told Tharoor’s lawyers to file their response to the affidavit filed by Goswami and the channel and listed the case for hearing on 21 September. Tharoor had filed Rs 20 million defamation suit against Goswami and his channel.

    While the media house was now careful in how it reported about the case, senior advocate Salman Khurshid, appearing for Tharoor, said some Republic TV reporters were not taking the same care while tweeting. Appearing for Republic TV, advocate Malvika Trivedi contended that Tharoor had also made endless tweets against it which, she said, were offensive.

    In response, Khurshid said that his client’s remarks about the media house were harsh and funny, but not defamatory and assured the court that such statements would not be made again. Khurshid said he does not want to gag the media. Investigation was their right, he said, but, he said, they had already held him guilty.

  • BEA elects Supriya Prasad as president; Ajit Anjum as general secretary

    MUMBAI: There’s change at the top at the apex body – The Broadcast Editors’ Association (BEA) – that represents the editorial interests of the Indian news broadcasting industry. Aaj Tak and India Today managing editor Supriya Prasad was elected its president while Ajit Anjum was elected general secretary at at a general body meeting held on 14 August in New Delhi.

    Other prominent journalists who will be holding office at the BEA following the election include: ABP News’ Dibang, Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami as vice-presidents. Ajay Kumar was elected too the post of treasurer.

    A 15-member executive committee was also constituted following the election of the office –bearers. The committee comprises Qamar Waheed Naqvi, Shazi Zaman, N K Singh, Milind Khandekar (ABP News), Rahul Kanwal (India Today and Aajtak), Sanjay Bragta (Zee News), Sonia Singh (NDTV), Deepak Chaurasia (India News), Sanjeev Paliwal (Aaj Tak), Abhishek Kapoor (Republic TV), Ravi Prakas (TV9), Sukesh Ranjan (News 24), Navika Kumar (Times Now), Bhupendra Chaube (CNN News 18) and Rajesh Raina (ETV). The executive committee serves to help the BEA take decisions.

    After election of the new team, BEA president Supriya Prasad thanked the outgoing leaders and appreciated the contribution made by them during its tenure. He also exhorted the new team to work to improve the role of electronic news media so as to make it more and more public- oriented.

    Ajit Anjum highlighted the need for expansion of the BEA by including editors of regional channels. For this purpose a three-member sub-committee was constituted with Sanjeev Paliwal, Rahul Kanwal and Sanjay Bragta as its members.

    The BEA serves as a moral watchdog of the editorial standards being practiced across India’s news channel ecosystem.

  • New NBA member Republic TV wants regional & web players in

    MUMBAI: Republic TV seems to have buried the hatchet with News Broadcasters Association and joined the body in what the former calls “in the larger interest of the ecosystem.” Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani on Monday morning confirmed the development after the editor Arnab Goswami told Indiantelevision.com that he wanted Khanchandani to speak on the development.

    It may be recalled that Republic TV’s ratings success, soon after the 6-May launch, was not uneventful. The NBA had written to BARC India not to publish the new channel’s data until it’s cleared of wrongdoing on allegations of multiple feeds (LCNs). But, Goswami had discounted the importance of NBA, calling it a  “cabal” — a toothless body now used for lobbying and run by 4-5 people.

    However, Khanchandani now tells Indiantelevision.com: “NBA needs to be democratised with wider representation and voice from the various regional news players. We are looking forward to playing an instrumental role to make it an inclusive body. There is also a need and opportunity to expand the canvas  / scope as a leading industry body in the light of ever-increasing consumption of news content over the web.”

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  • Arnab Goswami told to respect Tharoor’s right, Delhi HC hearing on 16 Aug

    NEW DELHI: Even as the Delhi High Court did not restrain Republic TV in its investigation into the death of Sunanda Pushkar, it asked the channel head Arnab Goswami to respect Shashi Tharoor’s right to silence on the issue. A spokesperson meanwhile said it was “another big victory for Republic TV” as Tharoor failed to ‘gag’ the channel.

    The court asked Goswami and his channel to file its reply on the Congress MP’s plea to refrain from “misreporting” his wife Sunanda Pushkar’s death, and asked them to respect his “right to silence”.

    The court was hearing an application moved by Tharoor in his pending Rs-20 million defamation suit against Goswami and the channel for allegedly making defamatory remarks against him while airing news relating to the death of his wife. Tharoor alleged that they continued to engage in “defaming and maligning” him despite an assurance given in the court on 29 May by their counsel. The matter has now been fixed for 16 August 2017.

    Tharoor’s counsel Salman Khurshid submitted that the court must direct Goswami and the channel to not mention the expression “murder of Sunanda Pushkar”, as it is yet to be established by a competent court that her death was “murder”, to ensure the trial was not prejudiced.

    Senior advocate Sandeep Sethi, appearing for Goswami and the channel, said they have only placed the actual evidence and the police report while broadcasting the news. “We have not called him a murderer in any of the news broadcasts on the channel,” he said. The judge asked the counsel not to use names and said “they will have to abide by that.”

    Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a five-star hotel in south Delhi on the night of 17 January, 2014. The matter is under investigation. 

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  • Do you want argumentative or sophisticated media, asks Arnab Goswami

    MUMBAI: India, with the help of advanced technology, editorial sophistication and big global channels is on threshold of becoming the media capital of the world before 2020, and will take on BBC, CNN and other global channels, dreams Republic TV news presenter and editor Arnab Goswami.

    “India is the only country where media can question anyone on any subject including religion, the kind of journalism that we practice, the way we go overboard, boldness being shown by journalists across the nation and bringing out the truth is helping media become an agent of social change. This will also help us become a global media platform before 2020. That is my dream,” Goswami said while speaking at an interactive session “News as an Agent of Change’ organised by FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) here.

    “Delhi city has helped me grow in my career as I have spent nine and a half years of my professional life here and I always felt that it was not a city that supported pure merit. “In 2000-2001, I was about to quit this profession. I was frustrated as a journalist since I felt I was a cog in the wheel. Shifting base to Mumbai helped me do my kind of journalism and what we do is possible for bringing in social change because I was physically separated from the centre of power. This city has taught me the value of merit, independence and professionalism. I owe everything that I am today and everything that I can be to Delhi and Mumbai,” he said.

    “The television media has made politicians accountable for their doings. We play a conscious role towards being a force-multiplier for social movements. Such was the case during the India Against Corruption movement, in which Anna Hazare, Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan came together. Today, when the media questions Kejriwal as a politician, people ask me, “Have you forgotten that you are the same people who put Kejriwal on a pedestal?” But, I never supported Arvind Kejriwal. I supported the fight against corruption. Our support was for the Lokpal movement and not for a group that wanted to become a political party,” said Goswami.

    “It’s always a tough decision to take the path less travelled. Rival channels have always accused me of being over the top and presenting a dumbed-down version of the news. However, I am a firm believer in my form of journalism — which does not believe in the ‘underhand delivery’. I look upon us as new-age journalists. It is my responsibility to throw a googly or bouncer to those in power once in a while,” he said.

    Goswami shared an anecdote which he termed “another mistake” in his career. This incident happened when actor Sanjay Dutt was being transported from Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail to Pune’s Yerwada prison. “I sent my reporters and camerapersons to cover Dutt’s story. While I was having my lunch, I got a phone call from someone in Bengaluru, who had been following my career and Times Now since a long time. He vowed never to watch my channel again. I was surprised and asked him why. He said that his best friend, Colonel Vasanth Venugopal had died in a combat with terrorists. But, not a single news channel had bothered to cover the martyrdom of this man. I was shocked and apologised to him. Suddenly, the whole Dutt drama looked puerile to me. I invited the man to come on my programme, and he agreed.”

    But, Goswami was in for a surprise. Before he went live, he asked his producer if the guest was ready. His producer replied, “Yes, she is ready”. Goswami told him it was a man, who had called up but his producer interrupted and said, “Col. Venugopal’s wife, Subhashini, decided to come on your programme.”

    Goswami recalled, “Here was a lady, who had cremated her husband four hours ago. What do I ask her? I started off by asking some opening questions. She spoke for 10 minutes from her heart – about her husband, about how proud she was of him and about her children. I got a call from Col. J. J. Singh, who was the chief of army staff at that time. He asked me for the brave lady’s number. The incident changed my perspective of journalism forever.”

    Towards the end of his speech, Goswami posed a thought-provoking question: “What kind of media do you want? Do you want this media, irrespective of how noisy, argumentative and difficult it is? Or, would you like to have the tame, quiet and sophisticated media that bowls underhand deliveries?”

  • Republic to debut VR content from August for viewers

    MUMBAI: English news channel Republic TV will introduce its first set of 10-series VR (virtual reality) news stories for viewers on its digital platform Republic World next month in a move that could probably be a first for an Indian news channel.

    “The future of digital is going to be (dominated by) the three areas of vertical videos, virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Over 37 per cent of the content on Republic TV is being streamed live,” Republic TV founder Arnab Goswami told the audience at the Indiantelevision-organised Vidnet 2017 here on Thursday while dwelling on the type of video content that will drive digital and connect and engage with the new-age viewer. He was in conversation with Indiantelevision.com Group founder, CEO and chief editor Anil Wanvari. 

    VR is the use of computer technology to create a simulated environment. Unlike traditional user interfaces, VR places the user inside an experience. Instead of viewing a screen in front of them, users are immersed and able to interact with 3D worlds

    Explaining the rationale behind betting big on digital and things like VR, Goswami said that Republic TV has 10 content partners in different languages in various states and the company was not “looking at digital as a source of income, but as a brand extension” initiative. Republic TV will have a separate VR feed on Republic World, the digital platform.

    Holding forth on content, technology and bigger competitors (David vs. Goliath is his oft-repeated expression), Goswami said he sees his company more “as a content creator not a content distributor”, adding, “The future of digital will be (dependent) on the engagement levels of the content, not just the scale that you (have) built up. In a fully digitised market, we are the content creators and are at absolutely even play (compared to incumbents). It no longer depends on money. We are spending our resources on content, reporter and talent”.

    Republic is offering its wide range of content with the help of media partners including Sambad, BusinessWorld, News Live, Niyomiya Barta, North East Live, Punjab Kesari, Aajkaal, S Newz, Dainik Bhaskar, Nirmana News, Kashmir Monitor and Lokmat. Community partners include tripoto.com, RSJ, LBB.in, yourstory.com, digit.in and AutoX.

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  • Republic World app to be launched soon, says Arnab Goswami

    MUMBAI: The unstoppable Arnab Goswani’s RepublicWorld app is expected to make its appearance in four to seven weeks.

    Earlier, Republic TV’s founder editor Arnab Goswami had formally announced the unveiling of its digital cousin –Republicworld.com – on 7 July. This was confirmed by Goswami at session at Vidnet 2017.

    The app is aimed at changing the look of news apps by other groups. The design and the look ofrepublicworld.com is very clean and visual heavy with news being segregated under various sections right from general news to politics to sport to lifestyle to tech to entertainment. Visitors can also watch Republic TV’s shows such as Arnab’s Sunday debate, The Anupam Kher show, R.Access, Patriot, and the new one: The Nation Wants to Know.

    Furthermore, the reader can customise the language for the site, according to his preferences. Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, English Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali, and Odiya are the options given to him.

    Republicworld has been able to offer that wide a range of thanks to its partnership with various media houses with eight of them being specifically with digital outlets. The media partners include Business World, OTV, Sambad, News Live, Niyomiya Barta, North East Live, Punjab Kesari, Aajkaal, S Newz, Dainik Bhaskar, Nirmana News, Kashmir Monitor, Lokmat, Vikatan TV, Polimer, Asianetnews.tv, Asianet News, Kannada Prabha, Suvarna News, News Mobile.in; across India and the community partners include tripoto.com, RSJ, LBB.in, yourstory.com, digit.in, and AutoX.

    Additionally, what strikes one is the experimentation that is being attempted on republicworld.com in the form of the handful of 360-degree videos that have been put out on the site. Republic’s video content is being streamed in HD with the app slated for a launch in the next three weeks. It will feature long-format live and VoD content in the form of vertical videos, especially created for mobile audience as reported by indiantelevision.com on 30 June.

    As Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani had said: “Innovation is very critical to succeed. We were clear that we want to differentiate. Look at the digital success and traditional success stories. Often, one of the primary reasons behind the triumph is technology, which is as important as content. Also, one needs to understand the consumer and the journey across platforms. Therefore, it’s critical to make sure that you are able to draw up a strategy that gives you maximum reach.”

    Republicworld.com COO Jay Chauhan had added: “In the digital content space, there is no dominant global player operating out of south Asia, and that’s a big opportunity for us. Republicworld.com is at the intersection of content and technology, so we will keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible to constantly engage and improve upon the user experience.”

    On the technology front, RepublicWorld has tieups with American and Canadian companies. Pierre Friquet (VR director/ writer/ consultant) from Canada and Ando Shah (founder & CEO at Tesseract) from San Francisco trained its producers for a month to shoot content in VR.

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