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Tag: Vikas Khanchandani

  • Chrome DM data validates RepublicTV’s leadership claims

    Chrome DM data validates RepublicTV’s leadership claims

    Mumbai: “Opportunity To See” or OTS is a measure in advertising media that denotes the number of times the viewer is most likely to see the brand (In the below table brands denote TV channels). This term is used by marketers and analysts to differentiate between the total audience in the universe and the percentage of the total audience that has access to see your brand/ channel. The larger the percentage the higher is the availability of the channel converting into consumption/reach.

    The following OTS analysis over the last four years (2017-2020) within the Indian television market points at

    •  As seen the Republic TV OTS in urban homes has been higher than Times since 2019 making it the largest available English brand in Urban Homes in India.
    •  Republic TV OTS has been higher than Times NOW since 2018. The distribution and availability of the channel has been extremely high in comparison to any other channel in the genre. 
    •  The gap has widened into “Reach” in 2019 and 2020 as the TRAI implemented the new tariff order (NTO) making sure Republic TV’s free to air offering in English increased its footprint across homes through India. 
    •  The share of news genre got expanded from 2017, post the entry of Republic TV.
    •  The channel was launched in 2017 and since then its growth trajectory has always been on the rise. The other channels have also either grown albeit slowly vis-à-vis Republic or remained semi stagnant.

    OTS (Opportunity to See) – India Urban – Avg. of 2016 to 2020

    Source: Chrome Live, Mkt- All India Urban, 2017-2020

    Year

    Republic

    Times Now

    Difference

    Avg. of 2017

    61%

    65%

    -4%

    Avg. of 2018

    66%

    63%

    3%

    Avg. of 2019

    91%

    53%

    38%

    Avg. of 2020

    86%

    60%

    26%

    Source: Chrome Live, Mkt- All India Urban, 2017-2020

    Speaking to Republic World, ChromeDM founder and CEO Pankaj Krishna said, “After a point and irrespective of genre, the key differentiator amongst players within the genre boils down to the availability of content. Considering the fact that distribution is still contingent on a 1000+ variables (DPOs/ CNOs) and is one of the biggest cost centres for running a linear TV channel – unless of course, it is a hugely appointment-led genre, for instance for Hindi GEC.

    Most of the genres – be it news (Hindi and English), music, infotainment, the time spent per viewer limits to less than ten minutes a week and is mostly driven by channel surfing or flirting, if I may call it. A differentiator of 15-20 per cent on distribution between any two-three players within a genre would probably be the factor deciding the lead in the consumption / viewership / ratings within the genre.

    LCN (logical channel number), placement (where your channel falls), neighbourhood (the channel that precedes you), the packages that you are on (whether your channel reaches 100 per cent audiences and the penetrations of the packages that your channel is a part of) – all of these factors determine the OTS (Opportunity to See) or the availability of a channel which is the primary key factor in determining the dominance of one over the other.

    I don't have any inclination to any channel or newsroom or point of view- but after a certain level and with the proliferation of content, it does become a commodity – where-in the availability of content plays a bigger role than the content itself…"

    Republic Media Network group CEO Vikas Khanchandani said, “Republic Network has focused and delivered the largest reach platforms in its respective genres. The above data from Chrome is yet another data point that reflects on the growth and leadership that our brand enjoys. There are multiple data points like the engagement of Republic TV on social media which is also highest within its genre reflecting the stickiness of our brand and reflective of high TSV that the brand enjoys. We have similar data points for our humongous consumption on OTT as our brand has very wide availability on connected devices and I am more than confident that we will continue to bring the largest English and Hindi news platforms for consumers and advertisers.”

    The data for analysis was provided by Chrome DM.

    Chrome DM is a technology-driven market research firm with a pan-India on-ground presence. As of September 2017, the organization had a team of 650+ field staff, 150+ managerial staff and 450 tele-callers speaking over 22 languages to gather data from 3300+ towns. With a presence in over six lakh villages, Chrome DM also has an unprecedented reach into rural India.

  • TRP scam: Former BARC COO Romil Ramgarhia arrested

    TRP scam: Former BARC COO Romil Ramgarhia arrested

    NEW DELHI: Mumbai police has taken in custody former Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) COO Romil Ramgarhia, marking the 14th arrest in the TRP manipulation case. He has been remanded in police custody till 19 Dec. 

    The development comes a day after Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani was granted bail in the same case. 

    Ramgarhia had left BARC in July this year after a six-year-long stint with the council. 

    The alleged scam was busted in October this year when Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh held a press conference stating that three channels – Republic TV, Box Cinema, Fakt Marathi – were rigging ratings by paying people to keep the channels on even when they were not watching them. The TRP contracts were given to a company named Hansa Research Group Pvt Ltd. During the investigation, it was found that the ex-employees of Hansa were sharing the TRP data with the channels.

    Following this scandal coming to light, BARC suspended ratings of news channels for three months to "review its already stringent protocols and further augment them."

    Mumbai police has been hot on the heels of Republic TV’s top executives, while the channel and its editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami claim the case to be vindictive action against it.

    Earlier this month, Republic's chief operating officer Priya Mukherjee got anticipatory bail in connection with the TRP gaming case. On 5 December, the sessions court had granted bail to Republic TV's assistant vice president, Ghanshyam Singh, who was arrested in the same case on 10 November.

  • TRP scam: Mumbai Court grants bail to Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani

    TRP scam: Mumbai Court grants bail to Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani

    NEW DELHI: In a major relief to the private channel, Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandhani has been granted bail by the Mumbai court, in the alleged TRP manipulation scam. Khanchandani was picked from his home on Sunday and was sent to 14-day judicial custody by the Metropolitan Magistrate court at Esplanade on Tuesday.

    Khanchandani was the 13th arrest in the case after the alleged scam was busted by the Mumbai Police in October. Earlier, the channel’s head of distribution Ghansham Singh was also arrested in the same case. His name also appeared in the charge sheet prepared by the Mumbai Police department.

    The charge sheet in the case names 140 witnesses, including forensic auditors and members of BARC or Broadcast Audience Research Council, which assesses ratings.

    Republic TV maintains that the arrests have been made in a matter of vendetta by the Mumbai police over their critical reportage in the Sushant Singh Rajput case.  

  • TRP scam: Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani sent to 14-day judicial custody

    TRP scam: Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani sent to 14-day judicial custody

    NEW DELHI: Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani has been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days by the metropolitan magistrate court in Mumbai in connection with the TRP manipulation racket.

    Just like with the arrest of the network’s editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, a petition has been filed in the Bombay HC seeking relief for Khanchandani while a bail plea is already pending before a lower court. The sessions court in Mumbai will hear his bail petition on 16 December.

    Khanchandani was arrested on Sunday, following which a Mumbai court had remanded him to two days of police custody till 15 December.

    The police submitted before the court that the Republic network, in order to increase its TRP, paid Rs 15 lakh monthly to ensure that more viewers watch their channels – Republic TV (English) and Republic Bharat (Hindi).

    Media reports state that police found the alleged amount in possession of Abhishek Kolawade, accused of taking money from the channel for carrying out activities to increase the viewership and thereby the TRPs of the channel.

    After interrogating ARG Outlier AVP Ghanshyam Singh, the police concluded that Singh was allegedly being directed to carry out illegal activities to increase the channel’s ratings by Republic TV COO Priya Mukherjee, who in turn was being instructed by Khanchandani.

    The remand order for the Republic TV CEO was sought on the above points. His counsel argued that Khanchandani was targeted because Arnab Goswami is engaged in a dispute with the Maharashtra government for several reasons. It was also pointed out that the arrest was deliberately made on Sunday, a day before his anticipatory bail application was listed for hearing before the Mumbai sessions court, so as to defeat the petition.

    The TRP scam was unearthed by Mumbai police on 8 October after BARC filed a complaint through Hansa Research group, alleging that certain television channels were rigging ratings. Hansa had been tasked with installing barometers, which record viewership data at sample households.

    Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh then claimed that Republic TV and two Marathi channels – Box Cinema and Fakt Marathi – were involved in manipulating TRPs.

    Since then, several arrests have been made in the case and there have been a lot of developments both within and outside of the courtroom. 

  • TRP scam: Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani arrested, remanded to Mumbai Police custody till December 15

    TRP scam: Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani arrested, remanded to Mumbai Police custody till December 15

    New Delhi: On Sunday, Mumbai police arrested Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani in the TRP rigging scam. A Mumbai court has remanded Khanchandani for two days police custody. This is the thirteenth arrest in the case.

    Earlier this week Khanchandani and CFO Sivasubramanian Sundaram moved sessions court, Mumbai seeking anticipatory bail in the fake TRP scam case registered by the Mumbai police apprehending.

    The police submitted before the court that Republic network in order to increase its TRP (TRP) paid Rs 15 lakhs monthly to ensure that more viewers watch their channels – Republic TV (English) and Republic Bharat (Hindi).

    Media reports say that police found the alleged amount in possession of Abhishek Kolawade, accused of taking money from the channel for carrying out activities to increase the viewership and thereby the TRPs of the channel.

    After interrogating ARG Outlier AVP Ghanshyam Singh, the police concluded that Singh was allegedly being directed to carry out illegal activities to increase TRPs for their channel by Republic TV COO Priya Mukherjee, who in turn was being instructed by Khanchandani.

    The remand order for Khanchandani was sought on the above points. His counsel has argued that Khanchandi was targeted because Arnab Goswami is having a dispute with the Maharashtra government for several reasons. It was also pointed out that the arrest was deliberately done on Sunday, a day before his anticipatory bail application was listed for hearing before the Mumbai sessions court, so as to defeat his anticipatory bail application.

    News Broadcasters Federation has condemned the arrest and pointed out that it is highly alarming on the law and order situation in the state. It has urged the Maharashtra government to follow the law of the land. It urged PMO to immediately set-up and independent neutral national agency to investigate any allegations of professional misconduct by journalists, executives, and owners of the media company, in order to prevent harassment

    https://twitter.com/TweetsNbf/status/1338121311646670848

    Mumbai Police unearthed the TRP scam on 8 October after rating agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) filed a complaint through Hansa Research Group, alleging that certain television channels were rigging TRP numbers. Hansa had been tasked with installing barometers, which record viewership data at sample households.

    Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh then claimed that Republic TV and two Marathi channels Box Cinema and Fakt Marathi- were involved in manipulating TRPs.

    Since then several arrests have been done in the case and there has been a lot of developments both within and outside of the courtroom. 

  • Republic Media expands presence in online news space, launches in Hindi language

    Republic Media expands presence in online news space, launches in Hindi language

    MUMBAI: Republic Media Network has announced its expansion into Hindi news in the digital space with the launch of Republic Bharat’s online platform. It aims to become the leader in Hindi news on digital platforms.

    Republic Bharat aims to redefine content on digital for users in the Hindi audience and will operate with the same philosophy of ‘Rashtra ke naam.’ Among its differentiators, the digital platform will focus on news and breaking it to its viewers first while also aiming to change the way video content is created and consumed for the digital audience. 

    Republic Media Network Group CEO Vikas Khanchandani said that this is Republic’s first big step into Indian languages and the start of the network’s overall project of doing news in every Indian language. 

    "We want to leverage the growth of Republic Bharat and popularity within the digital ecosystem. Our English content business has scaled up tremendously and we are looking forward to adding 100 million MAU’s to our digital offerings," Khanchandani added.

    Digital EVP and business head Devinder Gupta said, “We enter the Hindi digital market and will shortly plan for our venture into other regional languages as well. With the Hindi digital platform we will be expanding our digital reach into India, catering to a much larger audience across the country."

    Republic Bharat’s digital wing will operate out of a newly-constructed digital newsroom in Noida. The process of hiring its teams for Bharat’s digital expansion is already underway. A 20,000 square feet space has been undertaken, and over 100 people are in the process of being hired.

    Much like its digital English news destination, the bharat.republicworld.com platform will be doing news across verticals with pace and depth in Hindi. On the digital Hindi news platform, plans to publish 1000 stories per day and reach 100 million unique users in the near future. 

    Republicworld.com claims that it has witnessed 34 per cent month on month growth in the past year, and has broken into the top five players in the genre. 

    The network’s aggressive expansion into Hindi news on digital will definitely challenge the present status-quo and presently-insipid nature of the genre. 

    Republic Bharat’s expansion comes ahead of the network’s intent to grow into regional languages in the near future 

  • The TRP fudging saga continues

    The TRP fudging saga continues

    NEW DELHI: The Mumbai police’s investigation into the alleged TRP manipulation fracas gathered pace over the weekend. If one were to stand outside the central police headquarters in Mumbai, it would have looked like a roll call of media hotshots was being taken.  

    Amongst those to go in were Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani who was interrogated for more than nine hours about the network’s involvement, something the founder Arnab Goswami has vehemently denied, stating that it was TV Today which was indulging in TRP rigging. India Today has denied any such wrongdoing.

    The police had sent summons to Republic Bharat COO Harsh Bhandari;  COO- international revenue & distribution Priya Mukherjee; senior distribution executive Ghanshyam Singh, the CEO of Hansa Research Group Praveen Nijhara and another employee.  Madison founder Sam Balsara, IPG Mediabrands CEO Shashi Sinha also spent a large part of the day being questioned by the Mumbai police.

    Republic TV CFO Shiva Subramaniyam Sundaram, who had also been ordered to appear before the cops, declined, stating that he would available for questioning only after 14-15 October. He also said that he had requested the law enforcers to halt the probe until the company’s writ petition against the police’s actions is heard by the Supreme Court.

    Read more news on TRP Scandal

    Even as this piece is being written, six teams from the Mumbai police crime branch were further investigating if the malpractice of TRP rigging was being resorted in six states. Republic TV issued a press release stating that the Mumbai police repeatedly tried to find out from its executives how the network managed to get their hands on the Hansa Research filed complaint. It said it would not reveal its sources, citing editorial privilege.

    The Mumbai police stepped in to investigate the alleged scam after BARC’s people meter management vendor Hansa Research complained to it that the viewership sample had been compromised. Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh then held a press conference, alleging that executives of three channels – Box Cinema TV, Fakt Marathi and Republic TV – gave financial inducements to members of BARC’s viewership panel to watch their shows, thus inflating their viewerships.

    Senior professionals, from the first two, were arrested and are cooling their heels behind bars since the allegations were hurled on 9 October.

    Goswami has all along being insisting that Republic TV’s name was not even there in the Hansa complaint, it was TV Today which was mentioned several times, he said. He has  also alleged that the Mumbai police chief is attacking his network at the insistence of the Maharashtra government for continuing to investigate the Sushant Singh Rajput “murder” and several other acts of negligence by it and the city’s law enforcers.

    Over the weekend, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also mentioned that it will be taking up the issue. It has asked representatives of the News Broadcasters Association, Press Council of India and Prasar Bharati to depose on the subject of 'ethical standards in media coverage.’

    Earlier during the week, Mumbai Police had arrested four people including Bompalli Rao Mistry, the alleged mastermind behind the scandal. Mistry will remain in the police custody until 13 October.

  • Republic TV and R Bharat go live on Flipkart video

    Republic TV and R Bharat go live on Flipkart video

    MUMBAI: Republic Media Network and Flipkart Video, a video streaming platform of e-commerce giant Flipkart have announced a strategic partnership, in which Republic TV and Republic Bharat’s live news will be available round-the-clock on its over-the-top (OTT) platform.

    Republic Media Network is already present on various high-definition OTT platforms such as Republic World, Republic World App, DailyHunt, Hotstar, JIO, Vodafone Play, Ola Play, Justdial, Paytm, Zee5, Airtel TV, Tata Sky, among others.

    This strategic partnership will enable the network to further expand its news digital presence on OTT platforms, thereby, giving audiences access to reliable news on any platform of their choice.

    With over 5000+plus TV shows and films already available on Flipkart Video, this partnership further gives its users an unrestricted access to quality news and analysis by Republic TV and R Bharat.

    Republic Media Network chief executive officer Vikas Khanchandani sadi: “Republic Media Network is available on every smart phone in the country through our exhaustive distribution strategy. News video brings in immense engagement and DAU’s (daily active users) for all kinds of OTT's including video, telco, and non-video OTT platforms.”

    “We are seeing scale and huge volumes as smartphone penetration has crossed 450 million bringing in newer audiences and higher consumption with easy access on devices. Believe it will open up opportunities for both brands to create strategic revenue through respective strengths. Republic will see higher monetisation and scale for the network as we expand our viewership base exponentially agnostic of devices and screens in 2020," adds Khanchandani.

  • Republic Media Network expands content solutions vertical, launches R.Fluid, felicitated at Golden Awards of Montreux, Switzerland

    Republic Media Network expands content solutions vertical, launches R.Fluid, felicitated at Golden Awards of Montreux, Switzerland

    Within five months of launching R.Bharat, Republic Media Network set to achieve another milestone- R.Fluid; the new venture to strengthen its distinctive competence of storytelling and story-doing for advertisers.

    Arnab Goswami-owned Republic Media Networkannounces its new venture R.Fluid which thriveson creating strong platform-agnostic content-led opportunities for brands.Keeping brands at centre, R.Fluidweaves stories that result in an unforgettable experience for the brand’s consumers.

    Rachit Tiwary is going to lead R.Fluid as the Business Head. This is in continuation to his role as the Director of Brand Solutions at Republic Media Network. Rachit started his career as a NBCUniversal Page executive and worked on shows such asThe Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and Saturday Night Live. In addition, Priya Raman has been appointed as theProgramming Head of this function. She joins this vertical with over two decades of experience in content & production.

    “Content-led conversations, discussions, features, activations, and events with a platform/media agnostic approach is required to find effective solutions.I am confident that the Fluid team will strive to make the partners and brands win using Republic as its pivotal asset, considering the large reach and high engagement across platforms,” said the Group CEO of Republic Media Network, Vikas Khanchandani.

    The R.Fluid will approach brand solutions in a varied format-be it large scale cause-led marketing initiatives, media solutions, network IPs, or on-ground events &activations.“The key task is to grab the ever-fleeting attention of today's hyper-bored consumer and having engagement throughcontent. The birth of Fluid epitomises the market’s need for creation of clutter-bursting ideas that can avoid the quicksand of consumer indifference. The strength of Fluid is its fluidity to adopt and adept at any contextual imperatives of its customers,” said Dr Bhaskar Das, Group President of Republic Media Network.

    Over the last two years, the team has successfully partnered with more than 25 brands across various verticals such as HMSI (Honda Motorcycles & Scooters India), Facebook, Ola, DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance, and Apollo Hospitals, among others.

    The Content President and Chief Executive Producer of Republic Media Network, Charu Thakur, further elaborates on the belief of R.Fluid, “Republic is a 100 percent content driven company. Fluid is an extension of our brand and we are excited about bringing top-notch content opportunities to our audiences through this new member of our network.”

    The launch of R.Fluid comes at a perfect time with the Republic Media Network winning its first award for the DHFL Pramerica Life InsuranceBehtar India campaignat the prestigious International Advertising CompetitionGolden Award of Montreux 2019.The Network won this award among 3000+ entriesregistered from 37 countries. About the win, the Chief Marketing and Digital Officer of DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance, Anshuman Verma, said, “Montreux award certification is recognised worldwide and has a highly credible International jury. This award is a testament of how Behtar India is one of the finest social innovation programmes in the world, which is building a conscious society through development of leadership qualities in school students. The collective enthusiasm and the infectious energy of our teams, Republic TV and schools; made Behtar India an astounding success and made this award possible.”

  • Republic World partners with Airtory to amplify the brand’s digital advertising game

    Republic World partners with Airtory to amplify the brand’s digital advertising game

    MUMBAI: Republic World has announced a strategic alliance with Airtory that will enable the brand’s advertisers to build and deploy interactive engaging ad experiences within a short turnaround time. The advertisers of Republic World will garner advantage of wide array of innovative rich media ads that will create user engagement and increase campaign performance.

    In this digital age, as a brand it’s a pre-requisite to game up the mobile and in-app advertising for faster growth. Digital advertising creates considerable value by generating new and sustainable business models. As a brand, Republic World always focuses on offering seamless user experience to the consumers and at the same time creates value for our advertisers.

    Republic Media Network CEO Vikas Khanchandani said, “Republic World has been a pioneer when it comes to creating innovative news formats.  Digital is an integral part of our business. We are a technology driven media publisher focusing on new age experience for our consumers. Airtory’s strength lies in producing innovative and interactive ad experiences which will help connect the users on a deeper level. Our partnership with Airtory will enable us to bring exclusive engaging and video ad units for our advertising partners.

    The innovations that Airtory brings on board includes range of rich media ad solutions like – Video Wall, Spin Cube, HotSpot, In-line Video and Interactive Video ads amongst other user interactions.The aim is to focus on creativity as a way of engaging with consumers through mobile, combined with the use of data for better targeting.

    Speaking about this alliance, Airtory CEO Julian Frachtman said, "We're extremely excited to partner with a great brand like Republic World to help them deliver world class experiences to their users and improved engagement and performance for their advertisers."