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Tag: Arnab Goswami

  • Being a ‘cry baby’ won’t help Times Group, says Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami

    MUMBAI: The slugfest between the established leader and the new entrant in the national English news genre is getting murkier by the day. After allegations of telecasting Republic TV on multiple feeds by some MSOs surfaced, and the NBA petitioning the TRAI, there were reports of unethical behaviour against the new channel’s editor.

    No might or strategy however seems to be working to put down the self-proclaimed David in its fight with the Goliath. Hours after Bennett Coleman registered a police complaint against the former editor of Times Now, the Republic TV founder and editor Arnab Goswami called up indiantelevision.com to talk about his triumphs in the audio-visual media as well as the social media.

    Excerpts:

    How is Republic TV doing?

    The channel has got tremendous traction — it’s way above on our own expectations. Our digital traction, social media traction — all have been extremely encouraging. We are tracking viewers’ behaviour and their responses to our campaigns and the stories that we are breaking everyday — it is without an iota of doubt we are on path to be the leaders.

    What do you have to say about the police complaint against you?

    I just wanted to say in the response to this attempt by the Times of India Group that  it’s a desperate act of the party which is losing. As I said at the FICCI conference recently, this is the David versus Goliath battle, and the Times of India Group has lost all its viewership.

    They must look at their content and work in their newsrooms, and sit in the police station. If they would have spent more time in their newsroom rather than in the police station, may be, somebody would have watched them. But, essentially, the desperation and paranoia of losing Goliath proves that they are unable to come to terms with defeat. The TOI Group must accept defeat gracefully — it will be better for them.

    The TOI Group must introspect the reasons for their rejection. We telecast a numbers of big stories and exposes from day one of our launch — 6 May. And, people have accepted us with open arms.

    Aren’t you legally on a weak wicket if the tapes which you played in Sunanda Pushkar and Lalu Yadav-Shahabuddin case were actually recorded during your employment at Times Now?

    (Arnab Goswami parries the actual question)

    The Sunanda Pushkar case been going on for two and half years now. Justice has been denied in this case for this period. Journalism is all about pursuing the truth, and I will pursue the truth. I am not responsible if the Delhi Police has not followed up on this case. When we were with Times Now, Prema Sridevi was instructed by her immediate superior of Times Now not to share these tapes with the police.

    You seem to be saying all that is being said against you is totally wrong.

    The paranoid behaviour of the Times of India Group including the impeccably foolish attempt  to claim copyright over the phrase “Nation wants to know” has rendered them a laughing stock in the eyes of the people across the country. Never before has one heard a case of one media house going to the police because of a story done by another media house.

    I would like like thank TOI for giving us the viewership. A senior TOI executive told us that they would be watching Republic TV. Being a “cry baby” would not help the TOI Group.

    You have still not answered our question of whether or not it’s correct to take away material that ethically belongs to your (now former) employer.

    If the Times of India Groups wants to take me to jail, I will walk from here to jail. This will be the first time in the history of journalism that a journalist and editor has sent to jail for for following a murder investigation. Would you not agree that from 6 May, news has not been the same?

    Vineet Jain and the Times Group should invest more time with their lawyers in police stations. But, I have many more news stories to break and follow.

    Are you saying that you would want to win by hook or crook?

    There is no hook and there is no crook, my friend — this is only journalism.

  • Opalina says Republic leads in Twitter chatter

    MUMBAI: You gotta hand it to the debutant Republic TV headed by the aggressive and hyper-on-steroids Arnab Goswami. He, along with the team led by Vikas Khanchandani, seems to be sparing no effort to reinforce the perception that the channel is on course to leadership in the English news channel space.

    Starting with dual and multiple placement of his channel on various LCNs on cable TV networks, to now claiming that he is beating all and sundry on Twitter – he and the team at Republic TV are clearly flogging their horses hard.

    According to Twitter listening data provided to indiantelevision.com by Opalina Technologies, Republic TV claims that it has managed to generate three times more conversation (aggregated volume for on air hashtags) than English news market leader Times Now on Twitter between 6 and 12 May 2017.

    Opalina further explains that Republic has roughly three per cent of the followers as compared to Times Now (241,000 followers as compared to Times Now’s 7.4 million). However, Republic generated 261,000 tweets from its viewers in the period as compared to Times Now’s 86,000 which translates into 1.21 tweets per Republic Twitter follower as compared to .01 tweets per Times Now Twitter follower.

    Amongst the hashtags Opalina says that worked are:

    #akhileshinsultsmartyrs, #arvindgate, #arvindgate, #endtripletalaq,
    #gandhipapers, #indiawithkulbhushan, #iskejricorrupt, #lalutapeexposed, #nototripletalaq, #republicstingslashkar, #sunandamurdertapes, #traitorzakirbanned and #zakirconversionfactory.

    “We have provided this authenticated and verifiable granular data (breakdown) confirmed by three independent sources,” Opalina co-founder Gaurav Sharma told indiantelevision.com. “The data is in the public domain — which we extracted and summarised,” he said. To a question, Sharma said, “We would stand by our data and ready to discuss with anybody who would dispute this data set.”

    Now in the battle which is steaming up in the English news channel genre, one wonders which is the next parameter the channels will resort to assert their supremacy: the number of guests per night on prime time?

    “Who knows,” says a long-time news television observer. “News TV has changed its complexion in India and it’s like in no other nation.”

  • Ex-employees Arnab & Sridevi stole ‘material’, Bennett files police complaint

    MUMBAI: Bennett, Coleman & Co has registered a complaint against Arnab Goswami, editor and founder of Republic TV, and reporter Prema Sridevi for infringing its copyright — both former employees of the English news channel Times Now.

    BCCL has filed the complaint with the Azad Maidan Police Station in Mumbai under sections 378, with sections 379, 403, 405, with sections 406, 409, 411, 414 and 418 of the Indian Penal Code, besides Section 66-B, 72 and 72-A of the IT Act, 2000, ET has quoted sources as saying. The complaint alleges commission of offences of criminal breach of trust, theft, misappropriation of property and infringement of the intellectual properties of of BCCL by making use of the same on Republic TV on multiple occasions on 6 May and 8 May this year.

    On the first day of Republic TV’s launch, it telecast what it termed as an ‘expose’ on Lalu Prasad in which audio tapes containing telephone conversations between the former chief minister of Bihar and gangster Shahabuddin, allegedly while the latter was in prison, were played

    Another news story was broadcast on Republic TV on 8 May, in which audio tapes of telephone talks between Sridevi (former news reporter of Times Now) and the Sunanda Pushkar (the deceased wife of the Congress leader Shashi Tharoor) and their house-help Narayan was aired.

    Both these stories had shown material that was procured while both Sridevi and Goswami were in the employment of Times Now, according to the complaint. The ET report stated BCCL has confirmed filing the complaint against Goswami and Sridevi.

  • Republic TV, TRAI, NBA and the case of multiple LCNs

    MUMBAI: The media went to town about Arnab Goswami’s Republic TV getting carriage in multiple genres (dual or multiple LCNs) on select cable TV networks across India. This followed reports that the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) had complained to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) about this so-called violation by cable TV MSOs of the quality of services regulations which were notified in early March 2017.

    TRAI, on its part, then sent out notices to the MSOs asking them to toe the regulatory line which states that “…each channel shall be listed under the respective genre of the channel as declared by the broadcaster under applicable tariff order or regulations …and one channel shall appear at one place only.”

    And, by end-16 May, many MSOs following pressure from the regulator gradually started pulling out the channel from other genres and placed it in one genre only – that of, news. However, sources indicate that Republic was not the only channel which resorted to seeding multiple feeds in different genres on cable TV networks.

    “For a long time, channels have been doing this — whether it is Times Now or CNN News18 or CNBC News18 or Headlines Today – almost every news channel has opted for this, and even GECs,” says a distribution professional. “It is a shrewd marketing ploy which has helped viewers find a channel easier as well as got a spike in viewership as multiple LCN placement tends to fox BARC India’s measurement. In fact, even this time, two of the popular English news channels did the same though no one has mentioned them, but with TRAI cracking down, even they have dropped the multiple channel feeds.”

    A source close to Republic TV questioned the NBA’s decision to write to the TRAI without approaching the channel’s management.

    “The thing is the existing clique of news channels is getting nervous about Republic’s spectacular launch and recall in the viewers’ minds. The ratings are expected soon and, for sure, there are going to be a few upsets,” says he. “Hence, they banded together against the debutant.”

    Indiantelevision.com reached out to BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta, and the official comment from the viewership ratings agency was that it would go ahead with the release of its data as usual. “BARC India measures viewership of TV channels on the basis of their unique Watermark ID, irrespective of the platform that the channel is available on, and number of instances, within that platform. For channels with the same WM ID, which may be available on more than one slot/LCN, the viewership reported is a combined one for all in BARC India weekly data,” BARC India stated.

  • Times Now leadership continues, new launches notwithstanding, says MK Anand

    MUMBAI: The past month or so has seen the noise levels in the English news television space reaching a crescendo with the launch of the Arnab Goswami-helmed Republic TV which has been grabbing all the media space.

    We now turn the focus on The Times Network which has been  the frontrunner in this space, with its Times Now and Mirror Now (earlier, Magic Bricks Now) channels. The MK Anand-headed news network says it is doing very well, the claims by Hotstar and Republic TV, notwithstanding.

    The English news channel has been pushing the tag line “Times Now Next Level.” Led by one of the more familiar news anchors and just-promoted editor-in-chief Rahul Shivshankar,  it  is further planning to strengthen its leadership in the news space as the most cutting-edge, engaging, and dynamic news destination in India.  

    Shivshankar along with veteran news anchors Navika Kumar and Anand Narasimhan are setting the pace to position Times Now as “a channel that is constantly redefining and reinventing news broadcast in India, with‘Next Level,’  and giving its viewers an innovative, immersive and involved experience.”

    The news network says that shows such as ‘The Newshour Debate’ and “India Upfront”-  the relative percentage shares of which have reached 60 per cent and 41 per cent, respectively, in the current week – have been  recording  maximum viewership in prime time. Whether it’s the expose of the Hurriyat-ISI link or #MallyaGate, Times Now claims it has seen its average weekly impressions grow by 66 per cent in the 13-week period since mid-December and five per cent in relative share percentage – thus living up to its pledge and justifying its brand statement ‘Action Begins Here.’

    Recently, it introduced The Morning NewsHour in Hindi in order to expand its viewer base. “The idea is to convert an educated non-English news watcher to become a viewer of English news,” Times Network CEO and MD MK Anand says.

    Additionally, it has also rolled out its Times Now  HD service in order to gives viewers a better viewing experience.  

    Its presence on social – through up-to the minute updates –  has a humungous 15 million followers and its Times Now App is also beginning to get traction. Finally, Anand points out that  its 3D VR newsroom and a virtual studio, enhances the viewers experience.  With a 360-degree view, the network has been working on presenting the future of news reporting with a cutting-edge technology.

    Concepts such as ‘Snapwrap’ and ‘Picture Book’ are helping  viewers keep a track of all the news throughout the day at a glimpse with pictures onscreen. ‘News Day360’ gets five critical developments on the two biggest stories of the channel whereas ‘Top10’ gives 10 important highlights to the viewers while they are hooked on to the main story. From connecting with viewers on-air to online, Times Now, Anand says,  is changing the face of newsroom reporting.

    Also Read :

    Drop in news viewership rating, Aaj Tak & Times Now retain respective leads

    Arnab’s ‘The Newshour’ lands Times Now in soup in UK

    Times Now will be globally ‘regional’, non-mirror HD by next quarter

  • Republic TV claims ‘stunning’ debut on Hotstar

    MUMBAI: New kid on the news block Republic TV has claimed it made a “stunning debut on Hotstar” crossing “a million viewers” within a day of its launch.

    In an official joint statement of Republic TV and Hotstar, the news channel announced it has “created leadership in the most coveted news audience in the country, the urban viewers”.

    Republic’s reach on Hotstar’s OTT platform exceeded that of the top English news channels on television, including Times Now, India Today TV, CNN News18 and NDTV 24×7 amongst both the urban M15+ audience as well as viewers in the top 60 cities in India, according to the statement put out by Republic TV, helmed by Arnab Goswami and funded, amongst others, by entrepreneur-turned-politician Rajeev Chandrashekhar, a vice-chairman of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) that rules India.

    Claiming that it is a “dramatic announcement given the viewership benchmarks are from a single digital platform”, the Republic TV-Hotstar statement said the new news channel’s viewership figures exceeded that of “traditional news channels significantly”.

    According to the claims, Republic TV’s viewership percentage was 208 per cent of Times Now, 229 per cent of India Today, 311 per cent of CNN News18 and 254 per cent of NDTV 24X7. It further claimed that the comparisons are vis-a-vis TV figures that BARC India would collect within all-India 1mn+ towns, including mega-cities, for 22 April 2017.

    Indiantelevision.com is not in a position to independently verify the viewership figures submitted by Republic TV and Hotstar. BARC India, the country’s present audience measurement currency, has not yet come out with data relating to Republic TV and other Indian news channels for the period under consideration till the time of writing this report.

    Commenting on the matter, the official statement quoted Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan as saying, “This is an exciting start and is a testimony to the impactful launch of Republic and the strength of the Hotstar platform, which has become the de facto destination for young, digital India.”

    Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani said in the statement, “Republic will be the largest and most impactful news platform. We are excited to partner with Hotstar and bring in an entirely new audience to the Republic community. We are also thrilled to have taken a leadership position on debut itself. ”

  • Arnab’s Republic ready for news battle

    MUMBAI: It seems to be one of those rare media projects that is launching with a battery of advertisers and sponsors. Also, it is an exceptional new television channel that had little or no difficulty in reaching out to the right audience through myriad platforms — linear TV, through cable and MSOs, and OTT.

    Arnab Goswami’s Republic TV, which is being launched at 10am on 6 May as www.indiantelevision.com reported weeks ago, will have a strong digital presence through Reliance Jio‘s over-the-top (OTT) platform Jio TV and Star India’s video-on-demand (VoD) platform Hotstar.

    Star and Jio happen to be among the eight original sponsors of Republic TV. Others advertisers include Renault, Vivo, Hike Messenger, Ola, Yes Bank, Microsoft and Future Group. Vivo is also the presenting sponsor of the 9-pm show, while Microsoft is the technology partner. 

    It appears as if it is having a near-perfect launch. With a high decibel marketing campaign – online, outdoors, on ground – which has made almost everyone in the major metros sit up and take note.

    Republic TV will be available  on cable TV, direct-to-home (DTH) and OTT platforms, its digital avataar being republicworld.com. Amongst the DTH platforms which have given it carriage, according to reports,  include: Videocon2h, Tata Sky and some say even Airtel has hopped on board. The MSOs which have reportedly signed on the dotted line include: DEN, Hathway, Manthan, and Ortel. However, some cable and DTH operators may not offer the channel for free or it would be made a part of a bouquet.

    Goswami’s ‘pro-military and nationalistic’ and may be pro-establishment, will have the biggest OTT advantage with Hotstar 135 million downloads. The free-to-air (FTA) channel will bridge the Indian national news vacuum in Hotstar’s portfolio. Hotstar, which offers premium, free and original content across genres, live-streams Sky News and Fox News owned by 21st Century Fox, its parent company. Star earlier exited from the news business as regulation does not allow foreign holding of 51% in television news franchises.

    Goswami believes (being on Hotstar) was the first step as news produced in India goes digital, and then global, since the non-FTA paid VoD platform would take news to  90 million-plus viewers every month. 

    The former Times Now editor had teamed up with Kerala NDA vice-chairman and Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar in launching Republic TV. Other investors in ARG Outlier include DEN Networks promoter Sameer Manchanda, senior investment banker Hemendra Kothari, Aarin Capital’s Ranjan Ramdas Pai, Asian Heart Institute’s Ramakanta Panda and TVS Tyres’ R Naresh etc.

    Headed by an idealistic journalist and master-presenter, a near-perfect launch of a nationalistic channel in  times of nationalist dispensation notwithstanding, it remains to be seen how it performs in the jungle of warring news channels. As a senior executive  of a long standing English news broadcaster says: “Republic TV has made the right kind of noises at launch phase. Its key challenge will be sustainibility and that too over the long run. Rivals have deeper pockets and clout; they have not really reacted aggressively against it. When they do, it will have to put up its best, and that will determine its road ahead.”

    Also Read:

    Of Arnab’s Republic, nationalism, need for opinionated media & ‘outdated’ BBC

    Republic TV buzzing with pre-launch teasers featuring ‘soft’ targets, issues

  • Videocon d2h to telecast Republic TV

    MUMBAI: Videocon d2h, one of the fastest growing DTH service provider in India, has now added Arnab Goswami’s news channel, Republic TV, to its bouquet.

    Republic TV is a free to air news channel and will feature Arnab Goswami as its lead & star anchor. Videocon d2h is always at the forefront of adding new channels and will play a key role in presenting the channel a wide spread reach across the country.

    Videocon d2h executive chairman Saurabh Dhoot said, “We are delighted to have Republic TV on our platform from the day the channel goes on air. This reaffirms Videocon d2h’s commitment to bringing the best of TV channels for our viewers.”

    Commenting on this collaboration, Republic TV founder Arnab Goswami said, “We are extremely proud to partner with Videocon d2h. With their modern technology and services, we are looking forward to bringing our content to the viewers in every corner of India.”

    Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera said, “With Republic TV on our platform, we will be further enhancing our bouquet of English News channels. We are confident that the rich news content that Republic TV brings will engage our viewers in this rapidly evolving genre.” The association between Videocon and Republic TV will be available on broadcast as well as digital platforms to ensure nationwide penetration.

    Videocon d2h has prided itself in presenting its subscribers with a robust line-up of 650+ channels and services, including a host of regional channels. It offers a wide range of active services like Smart English, Smart Games & Smart Cooking. The other active services include d2h Hollywood HD, d2h music, d2h spice, d2h cinema in both Standard Definition and HD, etc.

  • Republic TV to launch on Hotstar

    MUMBAI: Hotstar, India’s leading streaming platform and Republic TV, the nation’s most awaited news venture, today announced a strategic partnership to shape the future of news online. In a first, Hotstar will open up its platform for a third party content provider, marking a big movement in the evolution of the country’s largest streaming service. Hotstar will also introduce News as a distinct category on the platform, adding to its current portfolio of TV Shows, Movies and Sports from around the world.

    Republic TV is one of the country’s first major news service to launch in a digital era. With Arnab Goswami as the founder and lead anchor, the service aims to dramatically alter the news landscape in the country.

    Announcing the partnership, Uday Shankar, Chairman & CEO, Star India said “Hotstar is the fastest growing digital platform in the world and the leading destination in India for curated, high quality stories. Young India has embraced Hotstar. We believe that young, digitally savvy Indians are deeply interested in understanding their country and the world they live in. We are deeply committed to making sure that we continuously widen Hotstar’s offering, and the launch of Republic TV on Hotstar fills a big gap in our portfolio.”

    Commenting on the partnership, Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-Chief and Founder, Republic TV said, “Hotstar is a compelling destination for content cutting across genres and age groups. We are confident of breaking the digital barrier and believe this is the first step as news produced in India goes digital and then global. We believe the coming together of these two exciting brands and services will take news to the 90 million plus viewers on Hotstar every month. You can now catch Republic TV on the move and on demand.”

  • Microsoft is Arnab Republic’s technology partner

    MUMBAI: Republic, Arnab Goswami’s most-awaited media technology venture, announced Microsoft India as its technology partner.

    Through this unique partnership, Microsoft will power Republic’s broadcast techniques using some of its latest hardware and software offerings to deliver a superior news visualization experience for viewers.

    Republic is an independent platform for journalists and content professionals. The venture will create a movement that will put the power of journalism into the hands of the citizens, and will be India’s first footprint in global journalism.

    Republic editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami said, “We are a media-tech company and we are confident that together with Microsoft, we will change the way media and technology come together for a world class product for the generation next. This partnership is just the beginning.”

    “The News landscape has evolved dramatically and Republic is at the forefront of that transformation. The partnership with Microsoft will bring its first-party devices, its productivity platforms and cutting edge innovation to dramatically enhance news delivery on linear and video on demand. The Republic audience is in for a treat!” mentioned Republic CEO Vikas Khanchandani.

    Microsoft through its mobile-first, cloud-first approach will help Republic rewrite how news is delivered to the consumer. Republic will use a range of Microsoft products and services that are designed to make newsrooms more productive. Through its computing infrastructure, Microsoft Azure will host the complete digital universe for Republic. Taking advantage of the Windows Mixed Reality experiences and cutting edge Surface Pro 4 devices, Republic is going to change the way news is consumed by viewers. Republic will also use Microsoft’s Office 365 for the collaboration and productivity needs of its employees.

    “We look forward to working with the team at Republic to make this news platform a success in the market. Innovations in news formats and employing new means of storytelling are some of Republic’s value propositions. We are extremely excited to power this digital transformation in the media and entertainment space with integrated hardware and software experiences,” said Microsoft India president Anant Maheshwari.