Republic , a television news channel co-founded and headed by Arnab Goswami, journalist, made its debut on Saturday, with the airing of what it called a “super exclusive” report about a purported telephone conversation don-turned-politician Mohammad Shahabuddin had from prison with Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad.
Arnab Goswami is the erstwhile Editor-in-Chief of the TimesNow television channel, where the prime-time Newshour anchored by him had often come in for criticism from media observers. Other English channels seem to have been gearing up for the launch of Republic by airing an array of exclusives, though they denied this had anything to do with the launch of the channel.
CNN-IBN had an “exclusive report” on RJD MLAs in Bihar renting out their bungalows for private events. The channel said the report had been planned days in advance. TimesNow focussed on an “exclusive” from Kashmir.
Days before the launch of Republic , an advertisement blitzkrieg erupted online and a small battle of hoardings in New Delhi and elsewhere announcing its launch. India Today Television responded with the face of its star anchor.
Change in programming
The channels are learnt to be realigning prime-time news with new elements. In fact, the prime-time segment is kicking off at 5 p.m. now. The segment is based on viewership and normally attracts premium advertising.
But here is a catch. The market for English news channels is a tiny 0.2%, according to the Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) and their share of the advertisement money is ₹600 crore. Media planners also say this is unlikely to grow. So, is there room for another news channel in this tiny market?
C.V.L. Srinivas, CEO, GroupM South Asia, a digital marketing company, said Mr. Goswami’s news channel had been eagerly awaited by many. “The launch is certainly going to stir up the news genre once again. India is a news hungry market and while there are multiple channels, the ones that set the agenda get a lot of attention from advertisers and viewers,” he said.
Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India Television Ltd., said there could not be room for too many news channels. “But if it added to the diversity of opinion — Left, Right or Centre — I think in the end, we are better off for it,” he said.
Republic TV is on Star India’s digital platform Hotstar.
Republic, a free- to-air channel, joins the 390-odd news channels currently beaming content into drawing rooms across the country.
