MxMIndia

Tag: Arnab Goswami

  • The MPC noted that such acts of violence have no place in a democracy

    Mumbai Press Club condemns attack on Arnab Goswami

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Mumbai Press Club has condemned the attack in Mumbai by two persons on Republic TV founder, Arnab Goswami, and his wife when they were returning home. The Club noted that such acts of violence have no place in a democracy and that it is opposed to any attempt to bully or pressure the functioning of a free press.

     

    It has called upon the Maharashtra government and Mumbai Police to speedily investigate the matter and bring to light the entire facts of the case, including charges by Goswami that Congress workers are involved. However, it clarifies that the statement has no bearing on the (editorial) stands taken by Republic TV or Goswami.

     

     

  • The NBF, the communique added, would also like to point out that viewership trends in news channels have significantly risen, as per the latest report on trends put out jointly by BARC and Nielsen on Friday morning

    News Broadcasters Fed asks ad fraternity for help

    By A Correspondent

     

    The News Broadcasters Federation has reached out to advertisers with a plea that news channels have emerged as the single greatest source of news and information at a critical time of the lockdown. Adds a communique: “Across India, broadcasters in all languages are doing non stop programming with an almost 100 % focus on battling the Coronavirus and ensuring the success of the nationwide lockdown. Besides the news on the latest figures of corona infected and the degree of spread of the pandemic, news channels have put hundreds of experts, doctors, public health experts, civil and police personnel, and government officials on air in a massive effort to disemminate the right information and counter the barrage of fake news.”

     

    Said Arnab Goswami, President of the News Broadcasters Federation, in a statement: “At a time when other media can scale down resources and expenses, news broadcasters are scaling up their effort, and going all out to scale up their resources on the ground. We, the news broadcasters of India, consider ourselves as a public and emergency and essential service at a time of national crisis, and are absolutely committed to play our role in ensuring that by reaching out to the largest part of Indias 1.3 billion people, we stall the spread of this dangerous virus. I appeal at this time to all my friends in the media industry, and our partners in all sectors to contribute to the efforts of the news broadcasters by supporting news channels in terms of advertising on this period as a preferred partner in thuis difficult time.”

     

    The NBF, the communique added, would also like to point out that viewership trends in news channels have significantly risen, as per the latest report on trends put out jointly by BARC and Nielsen on Friday morning. The press note said: “As per the report, the viewing of news channels had gone up in last week by 57 % and Hindi news channels by 67 %. Regional language news channels are also seeing a major spike in viewership and the increase in viewership has been across segments. Interestingly, BARC CEO Sunil Lulla had pointed out during the press conference that even the kids category saw viewership jump in news channel consumption by a whopping 87 % which is a clear indicator that the nature of informative and contextual news programming on battling Covid 19 among news channels is being received favourably across all segments of the TV audiences.”

     

     

  • The statement has been issued given “false and malafide claims about the exact ownership of the consolidated network”

    Republic Media drops ‘Asianet’ from company name. Issues statement on Arnab Goswami’s 82% ownership

    By A Correspondent

     

    No, Republic TV is not owned by Rajeev Chandrasekhar or the BJP. Now this has been underscored by Editor-in-Chief, Founder and Managing Director Arnab Goswami several times, but there are still some/many people who don’t buy that. It’s perhaps got to do with the nature of Goswami’s editorial aggression.

     

    Agreed there are stories and issues that he raises against some BJP folks (like the UP CM or the Karnataka CM), but many regular trackers of the channel say this his ire is hardly ever directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Home Minister Amit Shah. But this report is not to talk of the Republic TV’s editorial positioning or its challenges. And, yes, we do know that it has been up there on the ratings roster, so the fact of the matter is that there are enough takers for Republic TV’s journalism.

     

    We also know that Goswami is not the only television journalist who is most often belligerent against the political and moral opponents of the BJP regime. But given his stature and being the leader of the pack, he attracts all the attention and which is why perhaps a Kunal Kamra directed his ire at the Republic TV founder and not the others. Or so we believe.

     

    Meanwhile, we note that the holding company of Republic TV – ARG Outlier Media Pvt Ltd – has dropped the Asianet from its name. Asianet, as we know, is the media company promoted by BJP MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

     

    So here’s the relevant part of the statement, that we publish as is:

     

    “At the time of the launch of the English Channel Republic TV, Mr Arnab Goswami though his personal investment and family structures entirely controlled by him, had around 84 % of shareholder equity through his promoter entity in ARG Outlier Media Pvt Ltd.

     

    “After the initial capital raise to fund the launch of the English Channel, Mr Arnab Goswami raised further capital for expansion through a small equity raise, in February 2019, and since then continues to hold over 82 % of ARG Outlier Media Pvt Ltd. Further, his company of which he sole promoter, owns 99 % equity in the downstream digital entity that controls the digital assets of the network under the URL www.republicworld.com.

     

    “All of Mr Arnab Goswami’s three legal and corporate entities are registered in India. His present controlling equity of 82% + makes him one of the largest individual shareholders in the Indian news media landscape and the first journalist to achieve this feat.

     

    “Therefore, Mr Arnab Goswami, the Editor in Chief of the Republic Media Network is the  sole promoter and Chairman of the Board of the Republic Media Network (RMN). This makes the Republic Media Network aside from being solely promoted, a career journalist owned network, which is unique in the context of Indian News Media ownership.”

     

    Well, there are other career journalists also who’ve promoted and run other media networks. But that’s a minor point and we aren’t going to be arguing that.

     

    We tried to find who owns the rest of the 18% of ARG Outlier and were told it was owned by high networth individuals (HNIs) and some funds. No names were disclosed, but we’ll find out. We’re sure there are some filings made somewhere.

     

    Having said that, we have no reason to believe that the statement are untrue or it’s a case of ‘jumla’, that word we heard from a senior BJP functionary first a few years back. In fact we confirmed the veractity with a couple of neutral media observers. But we would like to know (and publish) who the other 18 percenters are, because clearly the 82% owned by Goswami is entirely by way of monetary investments. It’s sweat equity and all the things that the Big Boss brings to the table. Hence knowing the source of monies that have come in the form of investments is vital. For, it’s not big for the nation wanting to know, but clearly (and surely), the Media Wants to Know!

     

  • In the last of a series of decade-enders, Shailesh Kapoor list five things that he wishes would happen to M&E in India… soon

    A Wishlist from the New Decade

     

    This is the sixth (and the last) in a series of decade-ender lists in this column. The previous lists:

    The most-defining Hindi TV shows of the decade

    The most-defining Hindi films of the decade

    The most successful OTT brands of the decade

    The most successful TV channels of the decade

    The most important emerging trends of the decade

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    It’s only 17 days old, but 0.46% of the new decade is already over. Last week, I wrote about the important trends that emerged in the Indian Media & Entertainment space over the last decade. While writing that, I wondered: Can we even begin to imagine what an equivalent list will look like in Jan 2030, for the 2020-2029 decade? That would certainly be ambitious, almost foolhardy, to attempt. But a more realistic exercise would be to list what one would wish from the new decade.

    So here are five things, in no particular order, that I wish happen to the Media & Entertainment industry in India in the coming decade. And hopefully, in the early parts of it.

     

    A Regulation-Free TV Regime

    The new decade has started with more chaos on an issue that’s been artificially manufactured and then incessantly fueled by Government of India and its agencies. After the New Tariff Order (NTO), there’s NTO 2.0, and the arbitrary TRAI guidelines continue to get more bizarre by the day. Interference of the government in private television has been an irksome factor the TV industry has learnt to live with over the years. But this time, they have rightly taken TRAI to the court.

    There’s little argument in favor of price regulation in a category that offers the best value-for-money compared to any other form of entertainment available. By subjectively questioning the price points every now and then, TRAI continues to baffle us. In a free market, the consumer will dictate the ideal price points. Channels have the option of being free-to-air, and eventually, the market will find segments and niches that are willing to pay a lot more or a lot less than the median.

    I hope we are not discussing NTO 8.0 in 2030. But something tells me that we may just be doing that!

     

    Better Marketing Quality

    The quality of marketing in the Media & Entertainment industry is arguably poorer than most other sectors. While the creative output (trailers, posters et al) may range from very good to very poor, the real bone of contention I have is with their aversion to strategic marketing. Very few media brands or products approach marketing in the classical FMCG way. Marketing objectives are too transitional and tactical, and almost never strategic. Ironically, the industry, especially some companies in the television space, is fairly good at content strategy. But marketing strategy approaches being used are highly nascent, and have almost a college-project-like feel to them. Be it television’s unidimensional obsession with the ratings data or film producer’s obsession with following the standard marketing template being used for almost all films now, there’s jadedness around.

    The silver lining is that there are a few companies and professionals who recognise this, and are consciously working on changing the marketing rules of this sector. More power to them in the new decade!

     

    An Oscar, Maybe?

    The Indian Oscars story over the last 18 years has been a dodgy one. After Lagaan won a nomination, and lost to a tough competitor, there hasn’t been much to show by the way of Oscar nominations, let alone an award. There is no need to be obsessed with the Oscars, some argue. While that’s correct, not being able to feature in the top international films for 18 years in a row is a worrying comment on the quality of cinema being produced in India, when benchmarked globally. Our theatrical business has been stable over the last decade, and India remains one of the few countries whose cinema has managed to stay strong despite the Hollywood superhero invasion. Surely, we can do better in terms of our global representation.

     

    OTT Measurement

    The OTT content factory has flourished in the last three-four years. In April 2017, BARC India announced its digital measurement initiative. After multiple delays, the initiative seems to have lost prominence now, and doesn’t seem to be in sight anytime soon. The absence of a consolidated digital measurement metric can be a deterrent in the growth of the AVOD business, which relies on advertising, in the coming years. Even from a content perspective, absence of clear knowledge on what’s working and what’s not can only hamper the quality of content being churned out. In the current scenario, no one else except BARC India seems to be in the pole position to make this happen. Hope they have this high on their priority list.

     

    Better News: Wishful?

    Traditionally, there have always been news platforms that are pro- or anti-establishment. But now, we have right-aligned and left-aligned news platforms (currently, the former enjoys a clear majority), and the masks are off too. Ideological colouring of news is extremely worrying in today’s times, when news consumption and its impact is at an all-time high. In the early half of the last decade, television news saw the emergence of the debates format. News got louder first, and then got ideologically colored too, and in no subtle way on either count. Arnab Goswami, the flagbearer of this decadence, is probably the most impactful television celebrity of the last decade, along with Kapil Sharma. The new decade needs to find its own Arnab. One who’s more assertive than loud, and more conscientious than coloured.

     

     

  • A lot has changed. Yet nothing much has, writes Sanjeev Kotnala in a beginning-of-the-decade stocktake

    Sanjeev Kotnala: Will The New Decade Be Any Different?

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    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    Welcome, 2020. Two decades of the century are over. The next one starts. Will it be different? The industry shifts and changes are like climate change. We know they are happening. However, seeing the real impact takes time.

     

    LOT HAS CHANGED. YET, NOTHING HAS CHANGED. 

    The brands continue to work hard experimenting with new approaches in the era of information. Brands are busy finding an original purpose to create positive perceptions in the consumer’s mind.

    Till date the record is dismal. Most brands with purpose have failed to align the whole organisation with the purpose. The result: they have been unable to deliver the same language across every touchpoint or experience. Many brand purposes are non-strategic and have a short life. The consumer quickly sees through the brand’s opportunistic behaviour. It leads to dissonance. The consumer continues to expect the brands to speak to them in a simple language. Be aligned and in-sync through the experience while delivering the best solution for the covert or overt need.

    Today, information access and placement is easy. And the audience is unable to separate the true from the false. The information available on the internet is questionable. Consumers continue to react with limited or misinterpreted information. In real terms, perception is adulterated with reality.

    The herd mentality is a reality. The audiences tend to hook on to a leader, subject or even information and blindly follow it. There is a churn within the influencers. They are being questioned for their impact and intent. The consumer is no longer sure if they can trust the peer and consumer reviews, which are simply polarised. The review industry is course-correcting by making them more genuine sounding.

    The product margin continues to drop, and service expectations continue to rise. The efficiency of templated SOP continues to be tweaked. The products and services keep getting threatened with new technology and business models.

     

    CMO AND AGENCIES.

    The fight between Traditional and Digital continues. Agencies, CMOs and Media owners continue to have a non-polarised point-of-view.

    The life of a CMO is getting more marginalised. The CMO’s tenure is further shortened by complexities of the environment and misplaced expectations. The CMO’s vision has been narrowed down from annual to QSQT and in many places restricted to the next project or the next month. Some CMOs gamble with bold, innovative experimentative consumer connect, some remain risk-averse. No one knows what the best practice is.

    Innovation and insight continue to be mismanaged and ill-defined. Communication and Marketing seem to be teamwork run by the idea and budget dictators. People fail to understand that marketing is not always about what you are doing but equally important is what you sacrifice, what you decide not to do.

     

    INDUSTRY AND INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS.

    The role of the agencies and advertising business continues to evolve and redesigned under newer threats. The blame game continues. Neither is the idea plagiarism dead, nor is the idea shopping.

    ASCI seem to be gaining strength. Ad Club and AAAI continue on a template path. Regional Ad Clubs keep to their turf. IAA keeps surprising with multiple high impact programmes. The media covering the advertising and marketing industry keeps finding enough content to fill spaces.

    The awards, across media, business and creativity, keep multiplying. The issue of scam advertising remains unresolved. There is no unanimous celebration of excellence. The new breed only complains, and most remains uninterested in taking a position of responsibility within Industry associations. The camps within the industry keep their amniotic behaviour.

     

    SOCIAL MEDIA

    People who sold their privacy to the devil we know as social media now want protection. They still continue to take on apps and services, carelessly signing un-read contracts and saying ‘I Agree’. The charm of free-of-cost service or membership to a loyalty circus continues to come at a hidden cost. The trap is already shut.

    The social platforms are unable to secure user data. Everything is threatened and watched. The CCTV cameras that give you a false sense of security and confidence comes at the cost of privacy at private and public places.

    The trolls continue to troll and cribbers continue to crib. The audience remains confused.

     

    POLARISATION CONTINUES TO CAST ITS SHADOW.

    The grey between the black and white is slowly but surely getting erased. The need to take a polarised stance is forcing people to make comments and statements they may later regret. There is a cost associated with all this, but that can wait.

     

    EVOLVING MEDIA.

    The traditional media keeps on fighting for its share of the pie. New OTT platforms continue to surprise and entertain. The discount model at e-commerce continues in its aim to get the loyalty of buyers. The digital media continues to be under a cloud of non-transparency and issues that no one has any solutions. The measurement matrices keep getting finer but remain under scrutiny. New buzzwords are coming and exiting faster than winter fashion.

    Arnab Goswami continues to make up his mind and be the judge in his debates. Every channel on the set-top-box breaks breaking news. Newspapers try holding to their credibility and trust. Digital still gets quotes as emerging and new media. Entertainment TV keeps dishing the similar content of Saas-Bahu, Naagin, reality shows and contests.

    BARC keeps evolving and promising new edge data and insights. IRS continues to walk on the edge, trying to find balance by keeping everyone happy. It continually improves the research methodology and implementation. Yet, they failed to promise a date calendar for the release. The industry willing accepts it.

    Radio and OOH is lost in the way keep chugging without any real measurement matrices. Big players try surrogate measurement, but a syndicated study remains elusive.

     

    EVOLVING AUDIENCE.

    The new digital native population is questioning education. There is a muted response to national pride, its rich history and culture. Consumers are talking heath, patriotism and social issues. They find fault with everything they experience. The voice is of crib and disappointment is overpowering the limited view of appreciation and joys. The politicians are busy serving the vote bank policy. The parliamentarians keep abstaining from essential debates. The will of the voters is crushed under political alliance and greed.

     

    STRAINED SOCIAL FABRIC.

    Women empowerment continues to remains on the agenda. There is no social revolution, but only strategic trending hashtags. Safety of women continues to come under strict ‘Terms and conditions apply’.

    Regionalism, languages and religionist keep fragmenting the nation. Law and order remain an issue. The economy remains questionable, and frauds keep happening. The protectors of law and order are threatened to the extent they need protection.

     

    TECHNOLOGY

    Big Data remains under a cloud of mystery. Agencies are doing a lot of work in this area. Digital remains the centre of attraction and the new toy and tool for the industry. Bitcoins keep finding new buyers. Blockchain promises a few solutions. AR and VR wait for full exploitation continues. Research and research methodologies are argued while the sample sizes keep shrinking with the rising cost. Intrinsic research continues to wait for scaling up.

    It is becoming easier to create a TVC or DVC. The creative dependent on edit and effect machines for changes, corrections and enhancement. Everything seems possible. The distances are being curbed, but the value of face-to-face interaction remains unchallenged.

     

    WILL THERE NEVER BE A CHANGE?

    No, it will be wrong to say the change has not happened. Like everyone else, the industry cannot afford to not-be-impacted with the changes happening in its surrounding business and social environment. Yet, the difference is unrecognisable.

    There is a hope and a firm belief that in the new era, we might see more changes that we will immediately identify. They will be more innovative and disruptive. Their impact will be sharper and more pronounced.

    People may take a stance only after knowing the fact. They may be equally gracious in appreciations as aggressive they are in their complaints. People may finally use their judgement and share or forward things only after deliberation. People definitely will be more inclusive in their opinion and lives. However, whatever you may do, the WhatsApp group will time to time surprise you with your popularity and the size of your well-wishers. They will be full of wishes, motivational quotes and season greetings.

     

    CHANGE STARTS WITH SELF.

    There is no point in continuing the discussion. Each one of us in the position of responsibility and accountability must take a stance and correct our behaviour. Things will change, and I believe they will. And by the next year, this may be seen as total gibberish.

     

     

    Sanjeev Kotnala is a senior marketing and strategy advisor and educator. He writes for MxMIndia every Wednesday. His views here are personal

     

  • The MxMIndia Mediaperson of the Year 2019 will be announced on December 20, 2019

    8 Days to Go!

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Yes, the day is drawing closer. Just eight months to go for the 2019 MxMIndia Mediaperson of the Year award. The selection process has been done. We have had five rounds of shortlisting and now are waiting to see if a new star emerges over the next few days.

     

    As MxMIndia readers are aware, over the last few years, the MxMIndia Mediaperson of the Year has earned the reputation of being one of the more credible barometers of the highest performer(s) in the fields of advertising, media and marketing in a calendar year.

     

    Last year’s winner of the accolade was Piyush Pandey on his rise and rise in the global creative world. In 2017, it was Arnab Goswami for the launch of Republic TV. In 2016, we had Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia CEO Ashish Bhasin and for 2015 it was the BARC India core team of Punit Goenka, Shashi Sinha and Partho Dasgupta.

     

    Any guesses on who it will be this year? Wait for it. 10.20am. Friday, December 20, 2019

     

  • NBF’s self-regulatory body ‘News Broadcasters Federation Authority’ will be set up by end-January 2020

    News Broadcasters Federation elects Arnab Goswami as President, to set up self-regulatory body

    By A Correspondent

     

    The recently set up News Broadcasters Federation (NBF),  with 78 news channels representing broadcasters from 14 languages and 25 states of the country, met on Saturday to firm up the governance and management structure, as well to finalise on the modalities of a self-regulatory organisation – News Broadcasters Federation Authority. The members unanimously elected Arnab Goswami, Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of Republic TV, as the new President of NBF’s Governing Board. Said Goswami: “I am grateful for the trust and confidence shown in me by the largest every group of broadcasters in India. NBF is a game changer and its incredible how so many channel owners and top executives have come together so quickly to make NBF happen. For far too long a clutch of Delhi-based channels have falsely claimed to represent Indian broadcasting. NBF will change that, for good.”

     

    The members also elected four vice presidents, namely Jagi Mangat Panda co-founder of Ortel Communications; Shankar Bala of Fourth Dimension Media; Sanjive Narain, Chairman and Managing Director of Prag News, and Kartikeya Sharma of ITV Network, who will be part of the governing board. Among the founder members of the NBF are the following: Republic Media Network (Republic TV and Republic Bharat), Puthiyathalaimurai ( Tamil Nadu) and V6 News (Telangana), Orissa TV (Orissa), IBC24 (MP and Chhattisgarh), TV9 Bharatvarsh, Newslive and Northeast Live (Assam and Northeast), First India News (Rajasthan), Kolkata TV (West Bengal), CVR News (AP and Telangana), Polimer News (Tamil Nadu), Khabar Fast (Haryana), Living India News (Punjab), Prag News (Assam), NTV (AP and Telangana), Maha News (AP and Telangana), TV5 News (AP and Telangana), MKTV (Tamil Nadu), Vanitha TV (AP and Telangana), DNN and IND24 (MP), Shri Sankara TV and Ayush TV (Karnataka), A1 TV (Jaipur), Power TV (Karnataka),Raj News (Tamil Nadu), Twentyfour News (Kerala), CVR News Network (AP and Telangana), National Voice (Uttar Pradesh), Nirman News (Gujarat), Anaadi TV (MP and Chhattisgarh), VRL Media (Karnataka), Calcutta News (West Bengal),News 7 (Tamil Nadu), DNN and News World ( MP and Chhattisgarh), M H One ( Haryana), Mantavya News (Gujarat), Gujarat Television ( Gujarat), S Newz ( West Bengal), Bansal TV ( MP) and Onkat TV (West Bengal).

     

    Meanwhile, former journalist R Jai Krishna has been appointed as Secretary-General/ Executive Director of NBF. Said Krishna, who will run the secretariat being set up in New Delhi: “I am more than happy to represent the aspirations of news broadcasters from across the country and resolve their common issues to make news industry more sustainable.”

     

    Prior to the Board meeting, the members met I&B minister Prakash Javadekar and presented their first set of memorandum. The Minister urged NBF and its members to form a strong self-regulatory mechanism, while recognising the importance of news channels within the M&E sector.

     

    According to a communique, Goswami will steer a focused group in formation of the self-regulatory body – ‘News Broadcasters Federation Authority’. The body will be led by a Chairman, and four independent eminent persons, and another four editors and will be set up by end-January 2020.

     

  • The 2019 MxM Mediaperson of the Year will be presented on December 20, 2019

    2019 MxM Mediaperson of the Year: 43 Days To Go

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Less than 50 days to go for the most prestigious award for an advertising/ media professional in the country. Forty-three days to December 20. We have had three rounds of shortlisting already, and now the final one will happen later this month (November).

     

    It’s a tough selection this year, is all that we can say. There are many, many achievers, but there are a few who stand tall. And one of them will be the 2019 MxM Mediaperson of the Year.

     

    As industry persons are aware, over the last few years, the MxMIndia Mediaperson of the Year has earned the reputation of being one of the more credible barometers of the highest performer(s) in the fields of advertising, media and marketing in a calendar year. The quarterly assessment ensures that we don’t miss out on a super achiever of the first quarter.

     

    Last year’s winner of the accolade was Piyush Pandey on his rise and rise in the global creative world. In 2017, it was Arnab Goswami for the launch of Republic TV. In 2016, we had Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia CEO Ashish Bhasin and for 2015 it was the BARC India core team of Punit Goenka, Shashi Sinha and Partho Dasgupta.

     

    So who do you think will it be this year?

     

    Having said that, we have a few days before the final selection, so if you’d like us to consider any name, write to us at editor [at] mxmindia.com or even call or whatsapp the editor – Pradyuman Maheshwari, if you have our coordinates.

     

     

  • EbixCash branding will be visible on platforms of Republic Media Network

    Republic & EbixCash partner for brand-integrated news studio

    By A Correspondent

     

    Republic Media Network and EbixCash have announced what they bill as the “world’s first brand-integrated news studio – the EbixCash Studio”.

     

    With this tie-up, breaking news, interviews, round-the-clock bulletins, and customised news integrations will be delivered from the EbixCash studios giving the brand visibility across all the platforms of Republic Media Network – Republic TV, Republic Bharat, Republic HD OTT, and Republic World. The exact date of launch of this initiative is not known.

     

    Said Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-Chief and Managing Director of Republic Media Network: “At Republic, we always work to break barriers and do something innovative. With the first-ever Brand Studio partnership, we are excited to bring a top-notch experience for the viewers and redefine the way the entire world sees brand partnerships.”

     

    Added Robin Raina, Founder – EbixCash and Chairman & CEO of Ebix Group of Companies: “The seamless integration of brand and news as we join our hands with Republic is going to be the next big thing in the world of brand-media collaborations. The Brand Studio partnership takes forward our like-minded ideologies of being end-to-end players and paves way for a multitude of opportunities for the both of us. This is something that has never happened before, and we are eagerly looking forward to it.”

     

    Added Vikas Khanchandani, Group CEO of Republic Media Network: “Republic Media Network has created the world’s first brand-integrated news studio. I am confident that what we have conceived as a brand idea will soon become an industry breakthrough. Being a technology-driven media publisher, we strive to deliver new age experiences for our clients. Considering the large reach and high engagement of Republic Media Network, our partnership will drive immense visibility and impact for EbixCash.”

     

     

  • Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das: Would you recommend embracing Tik Tok to Arnab Goswami to reach out to the millions who watch it daily?

    His words can make you laugh and almost always set you thinking. So at MxMIndia we decided to do the next best thing: do a Q&A with him every single day we publish.

    Presenting Day 3 of Week 3 of Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das. Dr Das, as we know, is currently a big boss at Republic TV, so we wondered how spiritual he could get with a question on the Republic TV bossman Arnab Goswami.

     

     Q. Would you recommend doing Tik Tok videos to Arnab Goswami so as to reach out to the millions who are hooked on to the platform?

     

    A. As a marketing professional, one has to find the synchronicity of a medium to a brand. Ultimately one aims at maximising stickiness to the delivered content, without vampiring the brand objective. For any UGC medium, gravitas isn’t a dominant logic of content creation. What is important is spontaneous and creative participation of users. To that extent it’s a democratisation of content creation. It has its sunny side advantage. News is a serious business and contextual credibility is generally non-negotiable. The current brand initiatives of the Republic Media Network are impactful enough in  making it  a leading news network in the country in the shortest possible time.  If MBO is a metric for measuring the efficacy of a  communication strategy, I think R. is on its prioritised path. And an Industry currency corroborates that impact.

     

    Pssst. If you found the question today bold and provocative, we promise you a naughtier one tomorrow

    Please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar, to visit the archives of Q&As.

     

  • The award will be presented on Friday, December 20, 2019… wait for it

    2019 MxM Mediaperson of the Year: 4 months to go

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Yes, the day is drawing closer. Just four months to go for the 2019 MxMIndia Mediaperson of the Year award. The selection process is hotting up. We have had three rounds of shortlisting already, and now the final one will happen late November.

     

    As MxMIndia readers are aware, over the last few years, the MxMIndia Mediaperson of the Year has earned the reputation of being one of the more credible barometers of the highest performer(s) in the fields of advertising, media and marketing in a calendar year.

     

    Last year’s winner of the accolade was Piyush Pandey on his rise and rise in the global creative world. In 2017, it was Arnab Goswami for the launch of Republic TV. In 2016, we had Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia CEO Ashish Bhasin and for 2015 it was the BARC India core team of Punit Goenka, Shashi Sinha and Partho Dasgupta.

     

    So who do you think will it be this year? We don’t know, and, frankly, it’s too early to even attempt forecasting and guessing the winner of the title even though we are just four months away.

     

    Having said that, if you’d like us to consider any name, write to us at editor [at] mxmindia.com or even call or whatsapp us, if you have our coordinates.

     

     

  • Ranjona Banerji comments on Arnab Goswami's mega-tantrum against director Aparna Sen on Republic which was followed by protégé Navika Kumar and successor Rahul Shivshankar on Times Now

    Journalism or Calibrated Outrage?

     

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    A supposed meltdown on Republic TV by famous TV anchor Arnab Goswami is doing the social media rounds. In the clip, Goswami is on a massive rant against film director Aparna Sen for being a signatory to an open letter asking the prime minister to do something to stop mob lynchings and religious violence in India.

    Goswami accuses Sen of trying to destroy India among other such claims, does not allow her to speak and carries on with what appears to be a mega-tantrum.

    However, suppose it is not a meltdown? Suppose this is the television that Goswami has found suits his audience the best? It is after all a style that he honed while on Times Now. And now he has perfected it. The tough guy journalist who will save his country from secular, compassionate, liberal intellectuals, that anti-national constituency that wants to rip India apart by not kowtowing to the majority religion and the government in power.

    It is therefore more than likely that this is manufactured and carefully calibrated outrage. It serves two purposes: it tells the BJP that Goswami remains one of theirs no matter what, and that there is no extent of illogicality and non-journalism that he will not go to support them. And it tells his audience that he remains what he is: a mighty show pony who will provide great entertainment every night regardless of the consequences and/or credibility.

    The journalism, remember, stopped while Goswami was at Times Now and therefore could not shift to Republic TV.

    The experiment that he started at his last job has taken fruit. At Times Now, his protégé Navika Kumar and his successor Rahul Shivshankar, carry on with Goswami’s toxic agenda, at times trying to outdo him. For all the great “fight” that Bennett Coleman had with Goswami when he quit, it is telling how they carried on with the form of non-journalism that he began. They replaced him with a wannabe clone which is I suppose a sort of compliment.

    Shivshankar on Thursday night (July 25) was in good “defend my masters” mode while he questioned panellists about why everyone wanted to save India’s religious minorities, but no one wanted to save Hindus. Trying to save Hindus is some Times Now hashtag on social media. The subject of the debate was the Triple Talaq Bill and the criminalisation of those Muslim men who use instant divorce as a way to abandon their wives. I made a huge mistake here and genuinely thought Shivshankar was going to ask why no one wanted to save women. I realised within second of course that I was on the wrong track.

    Shivshankar put me right and if one extrapolates from his sycophantic and illogical stance, then no one in the government is interested in the women. Of course, if they were, criminalisation would play no part in this bill but that’s another story.

    The capitulation of the media to the ruling BJP and its agenda is also clear, even without the melodramatics of Goswami or the poor seconds of Shivshankar. The very fact that the Right to Information Act was amended so easily is testament to our cowardice. Journalists – real ones, I mean, not these television snake oil salespeople – are those who will suffer the most as an authoritarian government exercises its muscle power in Parliament to protect itself.

    Do we care?

     

    Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She is also Consulting Editor, MxMIndia. Her views here are personal