BARC Wk 19: Republic TV opens its innings at top of English News genre

Arnab Goswami’s independent global media venture, Republic TV, has topped the English News channels space in its first week of operations as per BARC data for Week 19 (May 6-12) [All India (U+R) : NCCS AB : Males 22+ Individuals]. Arnab Goswami’s channel has garnered a gross viewership of 2,117 and is placed ahead of long time genre leader Times Now. 

The channel has come out as the numero uno channel, bigger than all English news channels put together in the Indian news space. BARC data for Week 19 show that the channel, within hours of its launch, began inching towards beating the leaders in the segment (All India 1 Mn+; NCCS AB Male 22+, All Time bands) with 52 per cent viewership in the first week of its launch. 

Times Now has slipped a notch to No. 2 with a gross viewership of 1,148. The channel’s parent company has filed a complaint against Republic TV for “theft, criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of property and infringement of IPR of BCCL by using the same on Republic TV on May 6 and 8, 2017”. 

NDTV 24x7 is placed third in Week 19 with a gross viewership of 352, while India Today Television follows close behind at No. 4 with a gross viewership of 350. 

CNN-News18 is placed at No. 5 with a gross viewership of 315. 

People watch what they find credible: Arnab Goswami 

Meanwhile, launched on May 6, 2017, Republic TV has been facing much flak from news broadcasters for transmitting on multiple frequency feeds on multi-system operator (MSO) platforms. In fact, just hours before the release of the BARC data for Week 19, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) had urged the Council not to release the viewership data for Republic TV until the channel completely stopped using multiple frequencies. However, BARC went ahead and released the data for Republic TV. 

According to analysts, the competition was bound to react to such dramatic growth of the new-comer in the segment. 

Arnab Goswami, Founder, Republic TV, commented, “I feel blessed with the love, support and the massive viewership that Republic TV has received. It reaffirms my faith that people watch what they find credible. I am deeply grateful to the people of this country for making Republic TV, the No. 1 news channel in India.” 

Vikas Khanchandani, CEO, Republic TV, added here, “We attribute our success and the channel’s credibility to the strong line-up of experienced journalists led by fantastic leader and managing editor. Our cohesive & motivated team has worked tirelessly to get us here. Content is king and differentiated content is God and Republic TV has managed to connect with audiences across age profiles, which differentiates us from all the rest in the genre.”

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