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Tag: Republic TV

  • “Dual LCNs is not the best thing to do” — Chrome Data CEO Pankaj Krishna

    The dual and multiple LCNs issue has sparked off a furore with English news television channels after Republic TV announced eye-popping numbers in week one of its launch.  The media has been buffeted with leaked complaints to the regulator by news channels against one another and the viewership monitoring agency – the Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC India).

    Chrome Data  Analytics & Media has been monitoring cable TV and DTH networks with its own household panels. And, its founder & CEO Pankaj Krishna has been on the frontlines where the action is. We got in touch with him to get his views on the English news channel fracas and what it all means.

    Excerpts from the interview:

    Q. What’s your take on Republic TV’s distribution?

    As per the Chrome data released on 15 May, Republic had already managed the highest OTS at 65 per cent as per Chrome track 2.0, in Week 19 (6 May – 12 May), All India Urban Market, in the English News genre.

    TABLE

    MARKET

    REPUBLIC TV  

    CNN NEWS 18  

    INDIA TODAY  

    TIMES NOW  

    NDTV 24X7  

    ALL INDIA Urban

    64.7

    64.7

    61.0

    61.8

    59.3

    Source: Chrome Track 2.0, Week 19, Market: All India Urban

    Further, if you were to factor in the impact of distribution on the BARC Reach/Coverage – as per our predictive DPi (a Chrome proprietary tool which gives the direct impact of distribution on channel trials) taking into account Chrome Data released on Monday, that is, 15   May, 2017, Republic TV was well headed to take on the number one slot across India on the ratings panel.

    Chrome Predictive DPi

     

    OTS (%)

    Conversion

    Reach (%)

    Times Now

    61.8

    4.9%

    3.01

    Republic TV

    64.7

    5.6%

    3.64

    NDTV 24*7

    59.3

    1.89%

    1.12

    India Today

    61.0

    1.78%

    1.09

    CNN News18

    64.7

    1.54%

    1.00

    Source: Chrome Predictive DPi, Market: All India (Urban), TG: All 22+ Male ABC, Wk 19’17

    In fact in the current week 20, with a Dual LCN count 43 headends, translating to dual OTS viewer, OTS of 68.2 per cent (Part data captured Chrome OTS Data till Thursday, 18 May, 7 PM), Republic TV is well on its way to making trade headlines for week 20 as well (Saturday 13 to Friday 19 May).

    According to you, does dual LCN help channels increase their viewership?

    Yes, it does. The objective of dual LCN could be to monetise the simplest law of probability on the ratings. For example, if you were to visit a supermarket, higher visibility of a product leads to impulse buying. Similarly, the channel with higher availability increases the chances of higher visibility, which eventually escalates viewership.

     

    public://republic_0.jpg

    Source: Chrome SES, Week 20 (13 May-19 May 2017)

    So, is it ethical?

    Whether it is ethical or unethical is a call that should be taken by the regulators. It is beyond our purview. Looking at the larger picture, I probably would say it is not the best thing to do because if one channel opts for dual/multiple LCNs, others are compelled to follow it to safeguard their numbers, consequently causing a spiralling effect on the carriage fees. We track 1277 channels as on 18  May, 2017 (available for downlink in India), however, in linear TV, the operators can carry only 106 channels on analogue, and approximately 300 on digital – resulting in a gap in supply and demand. Dual LCNs add to this gap by further blocking LCNs.

    What else is Republic doing to escalate viewership?

    There are primarily two ways of impacting channel trials – consumer pull led by content affinity, and broadcaster push led by distribution initiatives. Republic TV had made it in both. So yes, dual LCNS do have a direct positive impact on the viewership. Consumer pull clubbed with strategic distribution planning has a huge impact on the overall performance of a channel.

    There are several other factors that boost ratings of a channel, such as the content, on-air-presentation and many more. As per Chrome OAP track (anchor delivery, graphical interaction with expert panel members, treatment to live coverage, type of stories, screen-packaging etc.), Republic TV has outscored its competition average. 

    Chrome OAP Parameters

    Republic TV

    Average of Top 3 Channels

    Anchor Affinity

    7.24

    5.19

    All day Stories covered

    5.53

    5.41

    Screen Look & Feel

    5.62

    5.25

    Breaking News & Packaging

    6.86

    4.96

    Source: Chrome On-Air Presentation Track

    Period: 6 to 11 May 2017

    Sample: 9,874

    Market: All India Urban

    Chrome OAP is a proprietary tool that helps broadcasters to optimise factors determining viewers’ behaviour and engagement with on–air screen elements. The scores are given on a scale of 1 to 10.

    As per your findings, who all are engaged in dual/multiple LCNs?

    To a great extent, it happens across the industry including all the genres. Whether a broadcaster does it, or it happens on-ground by a cable operator to fill the blank LCNs is beyond our audits.

    However, owing to bandwidth constraints, the former seems to be more likely. A number of TV channels across India are seen available on dual LCNs to reach out to more audience. Dual/multiple LCNs are mostly seen during blockbuster events (such as budgets for the business news genre) and during new launches as a part of the channel’s marketing exercise.

  • IPR case: HC issues summons to Republic TV, hearing on 26 May

    MUMBAI: “Times Now” Channel owner Bennett Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL), owner of, on Thursday, filed a suit against Arnab Goswami’s “Republic TV” in the Delhi High Court for infringement of intellectual property and violation of contract of employment. After a hearing, the matter was scheduled for next hearing on 26 May.

    The court however questioned BCCL as to why, for over two years, they had not telecast these stories themselves even though they had the information, now allegedly used by Republic TV. Justice Manmohan stated that these stories were of national interest and public disclosure of such stories was important, Bar and Bench reported.

    BCCL said that Arnab and his team were using intellectual property at Republic TV, which they had acquired during the course of their employment with Times Now. BCCL showed the court a few clippings of “Republic TV” telecast regarding the circumstances of Sunanda Pushkar’s death.

    BCCL advocate Rajiv Nayyar stated that Republic TV must not act contrary to the clauses of the contract of employment. He also mentioned that BCCL had already filed a police complaint in Mumbai under sections 378, 379, 403, 405, with sections 406, 409, 411, 414 and 418 of the IPC, besides Section 66-B, 72 and 72-A of the IT Act, alleging theft, criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of property and infringement of intellectual property.

    High Court justice Manmohan issued summons to the defendants Republic TV and observed that it was well settled that an employee had to maintain confidentiality after he left the employment. He also observed that misuse and misappropriation of trade information would amount to infringement.

    However, stating that it was a preliminary stage, and he could not proceed against Republic TV without hearing them, Justice Manmohan questioned BCCL as to why they had not given a notice to Republic TV before marching to court. He also observed that the evidence produced before the court was insufficient, the Bar and Bench report added.

    Justice Manmohan maintained that if it was proved later that there was a misuse of data by Republic TV, appropriate relief would be granted.

  • Republic TV has 51.9% viewership in debut week: BARC gives data to paid subs despite NBA’s request

    MUMBAI/BENGALURU: It’s a coup of sorts. The leader in the English news genre has been surprised by the newcomer — Republic TV. According to BARC India viewership data for week 19, Republic TV has got 2117 weekly impressions and Times Now lags with 1148. NDTV 24×7  (352), India Today Television  (350) and CNN News18  (315) have respectively bagged the third, fourth and fifth positions.

    The controversy-ridden Arnab Goswami-headed English News channel claims on its channel a 52 percent viewership in the very first week of operations which started on 6 May 2017 – this would be Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) week 19 (Saturday, 6 May 2017 to Friday 12 May 2017). The channel started mentioning this news around 11am today. BARC in normal course gives data to paid subcribers at 11am. It has done it is this time too despite NBA’s caution.

    public://barc_001.jpg

    The channel says that the English News genre leader until week 18, Times Now could garner only 25 percent viewership. Comparative numbers for other channels mentioned by Republic TV are: CNN News 18  and NDTV 24 X 7 – 7 percent each and India Today Television 8 percent.

    As reported by us earlier, the News Broadcaster Association (NBA) had written to BARC on 17 May urging it not to release Republic TV’s viewership data until Republic TV completely stopped the NBA alleged malpractice of being on multiple LCNs’/genres on several DPOs’ and MSOs’. 

    The channel has been running a special show  – at the time of writing –  on which it celebrated its leadership position, bringing in its representatives of its 14-odd news partners who could not praise Arnab, his style of journalism, and his achievement enough. As well as journalists, editors from its team in different parts of the country.  Most of them talked about the fact that the channel was put together in a matter of three to five months, and that its pole position was attained in  English news in just its first week. And they also patted each other on their back for the stories that the channel has been reporting on for the past 10-11 days. 

    “They have raised him to demi-god status,” says a media observer. “Or maybe God status. What will the establishment do now? And what will Arnab and his team do?”

  • NBA urges BARC not to release Republic TV viewership data until LCN issue is resolved

    MUMBAI: L’affaire Republic TV continues to throw up new nuances by the day. After writing to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) about the new channel’s presence on multiple LCNs/genres on several DPOs, distributors and MSOs, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA), on 17 May, written to  Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) CEO Partho Dasgupta  urging him not to release Republic TV’s viewership data until it completely stops the alleged malpractice.

    NBA secretary-general Annie Joseph has informed BARC that Republic TV is not its member, and has warned it that the release of Republic TV’s data would be tantamount to “aiding and abetting such malpractices which will have serious consequences on the news broadcasting industry in India.”

    Referring to market researcher Chrome Data & Analytics dual frequency report, the NBA has cautioned that “Republic TV’s dual LCN malpractice is rampant and widespread in over 15 major MSO headends pan-India which could have an over reaching influence of over 50 per cent spurious bias on English news viewership. This will completely distort the viewership ratings.”

    The news association had earlier on 15 May written to BARC cautioning it about Republic TV’s distribution ploy and urged it  to follow the action it had agreed upon with the NBA in the past in case anyone violates the protocol and places a channel in several LCNs and genres.

    BARC had in a statement two days ago informed indiantelevision.com that it would go ahead and release viewership data – even for Republic TV; the new set of numbers are slated to be released on 18 May.

    Also Read :

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

    Republic TV claims  ‘stunning’ debut on Hotstar

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

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

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

  • 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. ”