Republic Bharat enters Top 3 in Hindi News Genre with 13-crore reach

In a blazing fourth week, with 13 crore reach, Republic Bharat has stormed into the top 3 bracket of Hindi news channels and has unseated the legacy players like India TV, News 18 India and Zee News.

Republic Bharat’s content in the present week upped the ante in terms of diversification and solid ground reporting. This resulted to the increase in the impressions by 55% i.e. from 141.68 Mn (third week) to 219.34 Mn.  The time Spent on Republic Bharat has increased from 18:21 minutes (third week) per viewer to 22:30 minutes due to its vast expanse of exclusives fired on a day-on-day basis.

R.Bharat witnessed a double digit growth in the HSM market making it the fastest growing Hindi news channel.

What was unique through week for Republic Bharat was its diversification in formats which saw news shows anchors from the studios, with live audiences, from the Front and even from outdoor sets at India Gate. This allowed the viewers to become part of the discussions themselves, at a critical time for the nation.

The week started on 24th February, Republic Bharat was live at the Kumbh and led the coverage of the Prime Minister’s visit. The consequent day, BHARAT kicked off its nationalistic campaign against those who were deriding the tricolour, while having the largest on-ground team to cover the inauguration of the National War Memorial.

On 26th February, Republic Bharat ensured non-stop breaking news on the Air Strikes conducted by the Indian Air Force across the Line of Control. With fresh inside details being broken every half-hour, Bharat was leading the coverage on the story that India was glued to.

The breaking news streaming in by its reporters was supplemented by a wide panel of astute military veterans and defence experts who were brought in to analyse the strikes and conduct interactive shows with audiences within the LIVE television format on the road ahead.  

True to its motto of ‘Rashtra Ke Naam’, the channel ensured non-stop coverage on the Forces who struck Pakistan and then responded effectively to attempts at an incursion by Pakistani F-16s on 27th February. Bharat captured the electrifying atmosphere of the Atari Wagah border post the air strikes and dedicated some of its primetime shows from India Gate.

On the day that Pakistan tried to violate Indian Air Space, Republic Bharat deployed 100 reporters to launch its ‘Sarhad Pe 100’ format. Via the format, Republic Bharat reporters were bringing the activity, sentiment and news from 100 different spots on the LoC and the International Border for the week. At a time of great volatility at the border with ceasefire violations increasing from the Pakistani side, the reporter presence in the areas of the Front added depth and pace to the channel’s coverage.

Capturing the sentiment of India, Bharat was at the forefront of calling for an end of politicisation and standing united in the interest of the nation.

In terms of exclusives, Bharat was the first channel to put out Exclusive visuals of how Indian fighter jets shot down Pakistan and forced them to sprint away from Indian airspace-- the visuals later went viral on social media.

On 28 February, Bharat was leading the news channel to put out Exclusive images of how an AMRAAM Missile was used by Pakistan and this missile could be fitted only on F-16s jets owned by Pakistan - exposing Pakistan Army’s attempt to claim no F-16s were involved in their operation. Bharat covered the first tri-forces press conference since the Pulwama attack, where Bharat’s news break on AMRAAM missiles being used by Pakistan were confirmed. 

On 1 March, 2019, when the nation waited for Wing Commander Abhinandan to return, Bharat ensured rolling coverage and updates on the story with exclusive developments and the largest on-ground team reporting on the matter. The Channel was live from Atari-Wagah Border. Simultaneously, the channel covered how the External Affair Minister of India, Sushma Swaraj, in a historic win was the Guest of Honour at the OIC and spoke of tackling state sponsored terror in the region, even as Pakistan boycotted the event.

With the aggressive strategy on content and with its pace of innovation in breaking the news and breaking the established mould in terms of format, Republic Bharat is now officially steaming ahead and closing on the  Number 1 position among Hindi news channels.

Source:- BARC India | Market:- HSM | Target Group:- NCCS 15+ | Period:- Wk 09'19