By Pradyuman Maheshwari
Let’s face it. Times Now = Arnab Goswami. And Arnab Goswami = Times Now
We may add as ‘as of now’ for both the equations. For, all of that’s going to change. Soon.
Goswami has quit Times Now.
We still don’t have an official confirmation from Times Network, but there’s reason to believe that his resignation has been accepted. News organisations – the best of them – are not known to practise what they preach: be transparent about what’s happening within, dismissing them as an internal matter.
The question is will Times Now survive without Arnab Goswami?
Despite being around for over a decade, with a near-eight-year domination of the ratings roster, the channel has not built a quality second level.
It’s not that we haven’t seen similar situations in the past. When Rajdeep Sardesai quit NDTV, there was just a dent, but the impact was more significant when he exited CNN-IBN. In the case of CNN-IBN though, Sardesai had built a reasonably good third line.
CNN-IBN did take a beating for a while, but it survived and has been doing well. It’s reasonably independent, despite all the fears of being owned by the Mukesh Ambani business empire.
At a much larger level, similar existential questions were asked if the Congress and India could survive without Indira Gandhi. Or would Reliance survive after Dhirubhai Ambani. Etc etc. The Congress rebuilt itself, and even if there were some hiccups when the brothers split, it’s been a smoothsail for the Reliances.
But things are a little different for Times Now and television. Last year, MxMIndia carried an analysis based on BARC numbers on how Times Now ratings fall when Arnab is absent.
It needed an interview with the Prime Minister to get CNN-IBN to beat Times Now. But it’s back to playing second-fiddle all-India. An India Today and NDTV 24×7 are around, but despite the presence of some top names and talent, the numbers aren’t good enough to surpass Times Now.
The reason for this is that the public at large hasn’t found the content on other channels engaging enough. Will they now gain because Times Now would be minus its megastar? Also, how will all of this impact Times Now’s revenues? Will advertisers desert the channel’s primetime or stop paying the premium that they so readily paid?
While Times Now will find the going tough without Arnab Goswami, can the mega-editor manage with Times Now?
It’s not going to be easy. There are very few media organisations in the country which back you up as well as the Times of India group. Plus it’s got the media muscle. The only way a new entity can get the masses glued – even if it’s in urban centres – is if it’s got deeeeeep pockets.
We should know through the day if Arnab Goswami is going to do his show tonight and if the Times Network makes an announcement.
The Nation Wants to Know!