We are eventually in the content business: Arnab on Republic TV’s strong show

Arnab Goswami’s independent global media venture, Republic TV, has continued to top the charts in the English News Channel space since its launch on May 6, 2017. As per BARC data for Week 23 (June 3-9) of 2017 [All India (U+R) : NCCS AB : Males 22+ Individuals], Republic TV garnered a gross viewership of 1,054, an increase from 979 recorded in Week 22. 

It may be recalled that the channel had secured a gross viewership of 2,117 in its first week of operations with a 52 per cent share of the viewership pie. The channel has faced severe criticisms from other news broadcasters for using multiple LCNs, with English news channels even pulling out of BARC and removing the watermarks for a few days in Week 21 following the Council’s refusal to heed to the News Broadcasters Association’s (NBA) request not to release the viewership data of Republic TV till the issue of use of multiple LCNs was resolved. 

Attributing the success of Republic TV to the channel’s content and stories, its founder Arnab Goswami said, “We are eventually in the content business and people will watch what they believe in and stories that are original and exclusive. We are constantly working hard on improving the channel’s content while raising the level of interactivity with our audience. Republic TV has also brought in innovations in the stories that are put out. We have a fantastic distribution team as the channel is available all across India since we are a Free-To-Air (FTA) channel.” 

Goswami further pointed out that Republic TV has a much higher time spent compared to other English news channels, “which shows that the content on Republic TV is sticky and is appreciated by the audience”. He claimed, “The time spent on Republic TV is almost double or 3X higher than its nearest competitor, which proves that what eventually matters is the stickiness of content. Republic TV’s Super Prime Time slot has almost 60 per cent of the channel share, which is great, but the channel has been a consistent leader across all time slots.” 

While stating that the channel has a complete pan India viewing, although it is more popular in urban metros, Goswami pointed out that Republic TV has seen significant viewership in towns with population of 1 lakh to 10 lakh. “I don’t think it is an urban phenomenon alone, because BARC ratings are based on all India Male and Female +22,” he pointed out. 

Going forward, Goswami’s vision is to strengthen Republic TV across all time bands and focus on integrating their content with what they will do on Republic World, the newly-announced digital platform that is set to add a fresh new dimension to the channel’s offering.