Arnab Goswami's Republic claims leadership as a news network, rattled competition wages war

Five weeks after the launch of its Hindi news channel Republic Bharat, Arnab Goswami’s Republic Media Network has claimed leadership as a news network in both the Hindi and English genres – reviving memories of a full-fledged war between Republic TV and the rest of the English news channels in 2017.

According to a post doing rounds on social media, the five leading Hindi news channels have called out leadership claims made by Arnab Goswami’s Republic across the Hindi and English news genres, citing BARC India’s data for Week 10 of 2019.

BestMediaInfo.com received a communication from Republic immediately after the release of Week 10 data by BARC to its subscribers, saying: “Republic Network smashed the national news networks and commanded number one position with 184 million reach. The viewership of Republic Bharat has increased by 228% over the period in the last five weeks, doubling the reach to 138 million. Republic Bharat was ahead this week, keeping its focus on its core agenda of Rashtravad and 100% news. In the English News genre, Republic TV continued its winning streak, being number one consistently since 95 weeks.”

Vikas Khanchandani

A WhatsApp text from Republic Media Network CEO Vikas Khanchandani followed the communication saying, “I am delighted to share that Republic Bharat has, as per the latest BARC viewership figures, become the No. 2 Hindi news channel in India. (Aaj Tak 14.2 crore Republic Bharat 13.8 crore). Having decisively beaten ABP News, Zee News, News18 India and smaller channels like India TV and News24, Republic Bharat is now the leader in Hindi News with the highest engagement levels in the Hindi news genre. I am also delighted to share that with a lead of 12% over Times Now, Republic TV English is by far the leader in English news. This makes the Republic Media Network the No. 1 all India news Network. Our digital presence at 24 million makes us also the largest TV+Digital news organisation in India. This is a historic moment and marks the emergence of a new news wave in India. I am deeply grateful for your support and reaffirm my resolve to transform the news landscape in the country with our promise of 100% news.”

An unverified message claiming to be jointly released by five leading Hindi news channels was doing the rounds on social media and WhatsApp saying: “We would like to inform you that Arnab Goswami of Republic is spreading lies and false information about the viewership figures of his Hindi channel, claiming them to be BARC numbers. He is falsely claiming high viewership and reach numbers and running a campaign, sending out text messages with fake figures that his channel has beaten all Hindi channels. You are being informed that his claims are absolutely false and will be challenged by other news broadcasters. You are requested to ignore his lies and false claims, which are highly unethical and immoral.”

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