MxMIndia

Tag: Arnab Goswami

  • He spoke on the theme 'News as an agent of social change' at the FICCI Ladies Organisation event

    Arnab Goswami lays bare realities of news journalism at FICCI event

    By A Correspondent

     

    FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) hosted an interactive session with Republic TV founder and journalist Arnab Goswami last week with the theme ‘News as an agent of social change’.

     

    And this is what Goswami said:“India is the only country where media can question any one on any subject including religion, the kind of journalism that we practice, the way we go over-board, boldness being shown by journalist across the nation and bringing out the truth from lies is helping media become agent of social change. This will also help us become global media platform before 2020. That is my dream.

     

    Speaking about his early days in the media, Goswami said: “Delhi has helped me grow in my career as I have spent around nine and a half years of my professional life in Delhi and always felt that it was not a city that supported pure merit. In 2000-2001, I was about to leave this profession. I was frustrated as a reporter and journalist in Delhi since I felt I was a cog in the wheel. After shifting base to Mumbai which was the best decision I ever made as it helped me do my kind of journalism and what we do is possible for bringing in social change because I was physically separated from the centre of power of this country. This city has taught me the values of merit, independence and professionalism. I owe everything that I am today and everything that I can be, with your support, to the cities of Delhi and Mumbai.”

     

    Continuing further, he said: “The television media has made politicians of this country accountable for their doings. We play a conscious role towards being a force multiplier for social movements. Such was the case during the India against corruption movement, in which Anna Hazare, Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan came together. Today, when media now questions Kejriwal as a politician, people ask me: ‘Have you forgotten that you are the same people, who put Kejriwal on a pedestal?’ But I never supported Arvind Kejriwal. I supported the fight against corruption. Our support was for the Lokpal movement and not for a group that wanted to become a political party.”

     

    Expressing his views on why he endorses his brand of journalism, Goswami said: “It’s always a tough decision to take the path less travelled. Rival channels have always accused me of being over the top and presenting a dumbed-down version of the news. However, I am a firm believer in my form of journalism. We have created a form of journalism in our country, which does not believe in the ‘underhand delivery’. I look upon us as new-age journalists. It is my responsibility to throw those in power a googly or bouncer once in a while.”

     

    Towards the end of his speech, Goswami posed a question to the FLO members as he asked:  “What kind of media do you want in this country? Do you want this media, irrespective of how noisy, argumentative and difficult it is? Or would you like to have the tame, quiet and sophisticated media that bowls underhand deliveries?”

     

    Hmmm.

     

  • It is evident from the report that the high timespent of Republic is a sore point for Times Now

    BCCL fires fresh salvo against Republic. ET report raises doubts on timespent in BARC data

    By A Correspondent

    Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd, the owner of The Times of India, Economic Times, Times Now and a slew of topselling media brands, has fired a fresh salvo against former Times Now editor-in-chief and President News’s entrepreneurial venture, Republic TV.

    The clip of the report on Page 8 of The Economic Times Mumbai dated June 12, 2017

    Since the data for the first week of Republic TV’s launch, Times Now, which was the highest rated amongst English news channels, found itself ousted from the top spot by Goswami’s channel. Consequently, the channel along with a few others, prevailed upon the News Broadcasters Association to act on the usage of dual LCNs and advise that they remove the watermarking on their channels thereby opting out of the BARC measurement.

    Other than NBA, many channels are also part of the Indian Broadcasting Federation (IBF). Interestingly, IBF in turn is 60 per cent owner of BARC India, which is a joint industry body.

    The channels came back to the BARC fold after they felt assured when Republic TV is said to have told the Court that is not taking multiple LCNs. Interestingly, India Today TV also filed a complaint with TRAI about Times Now using the dual LCN route to boost ratings.

    Last Thursday, BARC released date for Week 22 which marked the return of all English news channels to watermark-led measurement.

    While there is a sentiment that even this data is boosted by channels employing landing pages, an Economic Times report has cautioned media buyers and advertisers that all isn’t well with BARC viewership data. It is evident from the report that the high timespent of Republic is a sore point and Times Now hasn’t gone up in terms of timespent.

    There are questions that need to be addressed now:

    01.Will BARC probe the charges in the ET report?

    02.What does BARC think about the ET report? While ET is not indicting BARC in any direct way, the fact that the timespent data has been questioned, it impacts the reputation and credibility of the joint industry measurement body. What do BARC and owners IBF, ISA and AAAI have to say on this?

    03.Is this a misuse of sibling media by Times Now? If it was such a grave issue, how come other business dailies haven’t taken it up?

     

    It’s perhaps time for NBA and/or IBF to bring order in the house. It should bring together the four or five top English news channels and get them to stop throwing muck at each other and more importantly conduct their business in a fair manner.

     

  • … over the last few weeks, writes Pradyuman Maheshwari

    10 Reasons why English News Channels have been generating a Frown…

     

     

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    If you’ve been subjecting yourself to the developments of the last few weeks, you would possibly be left wondering whether the same news media that sermonises on what’s wrong and what’s right in India has embarked on a path that’s very uncool. Uncool is perhaps too soft a word. As the road sign says: Danger lies ahead.

    Let’s start with the beginning:

    01. Shout as if there’s no tomorrow: I was among the first commentators to applaud Arnab Goswami in 2008 for asking the tough questions. But is it right to forever keep raising your voice – with 6 to 8 talking heads screaming and shouting? Perhaps not. And even on nationalistic issues, if Pakistan is Enemy #1, why call people from there? How about some neutral, global commentators? And look at what’s happened when Goswami left Times Now? Another bunch of noise-makers!

     

    02. There’s no really neutral English news TV channel. Sadly, there is no clearly neutral English television channel. NDTV 24×7: Appears neutral only because it doesn’t gush about the government, but clearly left liberal. CNN-IBN is mostly neutral and isn’t obviously pro-Modi even though it’s Mukesh Ambani-owned, but given its ownership, it can’t obviously be neutral. Must say that it hasn’t been tested on this score yet. India Today: Rajdeep Sardesai is exceedingly neutral, but Gaurav Sawant? And why did they need to cover Yogi Adityanath live for nearly two days. And Times Now: unlike the paper, the channel is pro-BJP, and in my mind, it’s to the extreme. Sorry, I don’t watch enough or any of NewsX and WION to comment on them, but from what I remember of it, NewsX isn’t exactly neutral and WION is as of today too insignificant to matter

     

    03. Legit, but unfair distribution marketing: Using multiple frequencies to promote themselves on different genres is wrong as per the rules, but almost every channel has been reported to have indulged in it – in the distant and recent past. At one level, it’s an unfair practice. But why should the government or TRAI bother. An activity likes this costs top $$$s (in fact $$$$$$$$$$s), and a channel can’t do it forever, unless it cares a damn about its bottomline. Crying to the quasi-government TRAI and the ministry too often can backfire bigtime!

     

    04. Pulling out from the BARC ratings is incorrect. The joint industry body was set up by the ecosystem – broadcasters, agencies and advertisers. And the setting up was accelerated because of a news network’s angst against the earlier measurement firm (TAM). The likelihood of relative errors is a reality, and needs to be factored in at all times. Does this mean one must pull out of the measurement system. What the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has done doesn’t augur too well for the entire ecosystem. In fact it was Regressive. Let’s capitalise that: REGRESSIVE!

     

    05. While television channels can be aggrieved, industry associations should be above interests of individual channels. The NBA erred on that. NBA President Ashish Bagga, is also CEO of TV Today Network, which runs the India Today channel and the decision to advise member English news channels to pull out was taken under his leadership. From what I hear, NBA may not be a divided house on this decision, but it’s clearly not united on it. There are some who believe that the episode could’ve been handled better. Meanwhile, I believe constituents of the ecosystem mustn’t handle them with kid gloves, as I think they have been.

     

    06. The secretariat of the two key industry associations could do with some attention. The reason why NASSCOM or the much larger FICCI and CII are so successful is not because of the Chairman or Presidents, but because of the Secretary Generals or whatever the head of the secretariat is designated. The IBF, which is 60 per cent owner of BARC, chose to stay mum on the issue. And the NBA secretary-general chair perhaps needs a new occupant. The issue could’ve been handled better had there been a more dynamic head of both these bodies

     

    07. Times Now has been making optimum use of its siblings The Times of India and Economic Times for promotion. What it doesn’t realise is that its readers see through the negative propaganda and every printed report actually gives more publicity to Arnab Goswami’s Republic TV. While it’s got India’s most celebrated journalist as a mascot, Republic got a major shot in the arm with all the publicity in the #1 paper of the country. Earned media or whatever it’s called! PS: the page slug on the ET page that carries the report today says: Pure Politics.

     

    08. Cross-ownership issues have sprung up again with the Times of India and Economic Times offer prime space for negative stories on Republic TV. The stories make for good fodder for a trade site, but for a broadbased general news or a business daily? Had it been any other country, there would’ve been complaints on cross-media ownership. In India, no such luck. Governments are just too scared of the print mediawallahs

     

    09. BARC guidelines not followed on advertising: This is something that Republic TV is going to get nailed on. By promoting viewership numbers for just one or two weeks, one is going against the guideline of advertising viewership numbers. The problem is that the reprimand, if any, happens when the damage is done. And the only way in which this malaise can be corrected if an industry association issues a diktat and imposes penal action.

     

    10. The NBA and all the English news channels must realise that while the wars may have resulted in greater viewership attracting undue attention can be counter to their overall interests. For instance, the repeated statements by various people that the English news channels audiences don’t really matter. Etc, Etc. In the longer run, the perception sticks while making advertising decisions. And all of it is very bad for the genre as a whole.

     

    Pradyuman Maheshwari is Editor-in-Chief, MxMIndia. The views expressed here are his own

     

     

  • The decision of some English news channels to back out of BARC is very, very damaging, writes Pradyuman Maheshwari + 10 things that must be done!

    Hang your heads in shame, NBA Board!

     

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

    The News Broadcasters Association has some really big industry folk on its managing committee… the Board of Directors as they call it.

    At a personal level, they are all achievers, and I respect them. Click here for the list. Now, let me first say very unequivocally: I hold no brief for Republic TV. I must confess I am not really a huge admirer of the Arnab Goswami school of journalism. MxMIndia – with our Consulting Editor Ranjona Banerji chiefly and myself – has damned his shows enough when he was on Times Now.

    But that’s my – or our – personal view. We believe it’s a free world, and if he does transgress – as in, cross the line, there are enough forces – political, business and legal to correct him. For the now, the masses are lapping him up. He’s the voice of the new Indian.

    The fact of the matter is that the Arnab Goswami brand of news television has worked wonders. And this not just in terms of viewership or ratings, but also with those with the monies. Republic TV’s list of benefactors tells the story.

    So when he decided to start his own channel, there were worrylines all over. Here was a man who could rewrite the rules of the business if he has enough staying power – moneywise.

    Remember just having a credible, independent voice is not enough. If that was the case, MxMIndia would’ve been super-super-successful revenue-wise. But that’s not the case, we don’t aggressively solicity advertising. We just nudge. Those who believe in us, back us.

    But this is not our story. This is the story of an industry association leadership that must indeed hang its heads in shame.

    Or perhaps wear bangles, like this:

     

     

    Gosh, have we gone too far… bahut ho gaya?

    Nahin. Nooooo. Do you recall the disrobing of Draupadi in the Mahabharata? What happened on Thursday evening is something as bad as that.

    Or let’s look at another example. We all know that the examination-oriented system of education has major problems. We also know that papers leak. We also know that kids cheat. But do we just exit the system screaming “Screw it!”. Will a school or a parents’ association advise students not to take their exams because the Class 10 or 12 exams are a sham?

    Well, we can exit the education system. It’s possible to flourish without the degree or certificate. But you’ll need to figure how the world will assess you.

    I am not convinced that the News Broadcasters Association – which is headed by some very discerning names – could be buckling under pressure from some members who perceive Republic TV as competition.

    If it genuinely felt aggrieved, there were other things that NBA could do. Like when it realised that BARC was going to go ahead with the release of ratings, if it felt it had a genuine case, it could’ve approached an appropriate Court of law (and not the Courts set up by some of our anchors across various channels) and urged for a stay!

    Why didn’t it do that?

    Why doesn’t the NBA issue a diktat to all its members asking them to not go in for any ratings-boosting activity like dual LCNs, landing pages/slotsetc?

    As I write this, I am aware that some advertisers are reconsidering their advertising on the English news channels. They may threaten a pull-out very soon. And much as I would like every media entity to flourish, the English news channels who have pulled out of BARC ratings need to see reason. Or be shown the stick.

     

    Here’s what needs to be done:

    1. The NBA must reverse the advisory to its English news channels to pull out of BARC

    2. The English news channels must get the watermarking back

    3. The NBA, ISA and AAAI must convene a special meeting – which may be convened by the CEO of a network/channel who has no skin in the game – like NP Singh of Sony Pictures or any other respected industryperson like, say, Sameer Nair (now CEO of Balaji). Note I have not mentioned the names of Star India Uday Shankar because he is a former news television CEO. Also the Zee and Viacom18 heads have sibling channels in the news business.

    4. All broadcasters must take a joint decision on the issue of dual LCNs, landing slots

    5. The AAAI must be urged to only deal with channels/entities that are affiliated to the IBF or NBA, so that it will ensure that all channels toe the IBF/NBA line

    6. All advertisers on television channels (Patanjali included) should be convinced to become ISA members to ensure that the rules are followed. Similarly, broadcasters should only deal with AAAI-membered agencies.

    7. IBF and NBA must admit members provisionally without any delay, on clearance of cheque/RTGS/NEFT etc

    8. Since NBA has limited number of members, and there can always be charges that all the channels can gang up against a new entity, there should be a recourse available to an aggrieved member to go to a joint committee of the IBF, NBA, AAAI and ISA which may be set up

    9. Meanwhile, BARC must set up a clear deterrent as a rule that if any channel decides to opt out of its ratings, it will not be allowed to return for a period of one year or payment of Rs10-25 crore or some such

    10. IBF and NBA must ensure that the BARC advisory/guideline on channels advertising is followed strictly. Those who are repeated defaulters should be penalised in the form of a lower payout of advertising monies on the channel. And eventual debarring of payment.

     

    All of the above needs to be actioned before the Week 20 BARC numbers are released.

     

    Pradyuman Maheshwari is Editor-in-Chief, MxMIndia. The views expressed here are his own

     

  • Industrypersons believe the decision is regressive and could set the advertising clock back for news channels irreparably

    Future Shock?! Channels opting out of BARC could lose ad revenue

     

    By A Correspondent [updated thrice, last update: Saturday, May 20]

    The decision of certain English news channels to opt out of BARC measurement could lead to a huge negative fall-out. The channels which do it stand a chance of advertisers renegotiating their deals and even stopping advertising forthwith.

    MxMIndia spoke to a cross-section of the community, and they believe the decision is regressive and could set the advertising clock back for news channels irreparably. Earlier in the week, News Broadcasting Association (NBA) complained to the TRAI about Republic TV’s alleged usage of multiple LCNs for distribution. It later appealed to BARC, urging it to not release data for English news channels pending the verdict from TRAI. And when BARC chose to release the data yesterday (Thursday), the association secretary general sent a mail to BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta as per an Economic Times report. The mail noted: “Given your indifference to the serious situation at hand, we are left with no option but to advise some of our aggrieved members to opt out of BARC’s watermarking system with immediate effect until there is appropriate redressal of our grievance.“

    A reference was made to how print advertising has gone down in the absence of a currency (IRS) over the last two years. “While the advertising for English nosedived, regional is still holding fort,” a senior industryperson told MxM, hours after the news of the NBA’s surprise mail to BARC was shared with select media.

    Shashi Sinha, CEO of IPG Mediabrands and Chairman of the BARC technical committee, was visibly upset with the development. “I don’t know what the hoopla is all about,” he said, adding: “Everyone has done it on different occasions – around their launch or on special days. If at all anyone has not done it, it’s NDTV,” he said.

    Another senior industryperson told MxMIndia that if the English news channels were so aggrieved, they should have opted out of BARC measurement before the data was released. “Now the world knows that Republic TV is ahead of all others, and there has been enough noise about it on the channel and in terms of advertising on other media,” she said.

    And how will media agencies react to the decision? A senior buyer who requested on anonymity as he is not authorised to speak said that if it’s a one- or two-day gimmick, it’s fine. But if it continues, there’s a problem as there is a lot of accountability in terms of deliverables. So if there is no viewership data, advertising may exit from channels who are not able to supply data.

    Industry captains we spoke with also dismiss the decision to look at multiple distribution points (LCNs) as a marketing tactic around launches or induce sampling. “After a few days or weeks, the real picture shows up, and this is what the aggrieved channels ought to have done.”

    Meanwhile, from the BARC India point of view, it has a steady policy on the matter, we were told. And this has been displayed on the measurement body’s website.
    http://www.barcindia.co.in/resources/pdf/Policy%20for%20Measuring%20Viewership%20of%20Channels%20Available%20on%
    20Multiple%20Frequencies-%20Sept%202016.pdf

    On previous occasions too – when a channel has relaunched, or done a special campaign around the UP elections or around the Union Budget, BARC has reported the data in its entirety. However many be the distribution points.

    BARC has been consistent, a senior industryperson told us. But networks haven’t been so. For instance, while a leading business news channel chose the multiple LCN route around the Union Budget this year, it has now opted out of BARC ratings for its general news channel. A case of double standards, perhaps.

    Meanwhile, BARC has issued a statement (Friday, May 20, 5.20pm). Here goes:

    “BARC India was set up with the mandate to measure What India Watches, and our measurement system delivers exactly that.

    We have a transparent policy on the matter of measuring channels, (which is available on our website http://bit.ly/2dllmIp). This policy has been consistently applied to all channels who subscribe to our measurement.

    The fact is that this is a common distribution strategy among various TV channels, particularly News Broadcasters, to place their channels on multiple LCNs and across genres in the past, and they continue to do so even now.

    Based on information collected from various monitoring agencies we have seen that multiple English news channels on different occasions have placed themselves on multiple LCNs viz across 64 distribution networks during rebranding/revamp, across 16 networks during budget coverage, across 12 networks during UP elections etc. It has become a usual practice.

    We are clear about our position – we measure viewership of channels basis their unique Watermark ID, irrespective of the platform the channel is available on or the number of instances within the platform. For channels having same watermark on more than one LCN, viewership gets aggregated and reported as a single channel and not multiple channels. BARC India neither monitors channel placements across the various DTH platforms/cable head-ends in the country, nor does it have the mandate to do so.

    In the past, we have measured multiple LCN instances of channels as per our policy, and reported them as one channel and the same principle has been applied to our data released yesterday. BARC India is not the regulatory body for resolving issues concerning multiplicity of LCNs for a channel.

    Ideally these issues should be sorted among broadcasters themselves rather than dragging BARC India into these.

    BARC India will continue to measure what India watches.”

    MxMIndia also spoke with Nakul Chopra, senior industryperson and President of the Advertising Association Agencies of India, the apex body of advertising agencies in the country, and this is what he said: “It’s one industry. Differences will always be there. It’s better to let things settle down, take a deep break and let sanity prevail. Having said that we are a 100% behind BARC and what  BARC has said in its statement.”  When asked on what the AAAI advice would be to member-agencies on the decision to advertise on channels that have pulled out of BARC measurement, Chopra said: “We are discussing amongst ourselves and with the ISA (the Indian Society of Advertisers) and will give our formal response very soon.” Any timeframe, we asked. “Next week,” he said.

    And this is what Sunil Kataria, President, Indian Society of Advertisers, the apex body of advertisers: “Any advertiser wants to put money behind TV media which delivers audience viewership and that metric is available through TV ratings. Hence TV ratings are the sole metric for making advertising spend decisions. BARC has already issued a statement on their policy of measuring what India watches and  hence measuring the viewership as per their stated policy. We are closely monitoring the situation and hope the issue gets resolved. In the meanwhile, we are also in talks with AAAI and would come with our formal statement next week .”

     

     

  • According to BARCIndia data for May 6- 12, the Arnab Goswami-headed channel is #1 amongst English news channels

    Republic TV trounces Times Now to be #1 in debut week

     

    By A Correspondent

    The all-important BARCIndia numbers for Week 19 are out. BARC, short for Broadcast Audience Research Council, the joint industry body that measures television audiences in India, has released its data for Week 19 that’s May 6 to 12.

    It may be remembered, Republic launched on May 6, the first day of Week 19. So it was a ratings-friendly launch, and with a bang given ‘super-exclusives’ every day.

    Note, we normally do not like to report on the ratings of just one week, so it would be incorrect to say that Republic TV is the new #1 English News Channel. That statement is best made after numbers for four straight weeks are out. However, it would be right to say that Republic TV has trounced Times Now to be the #1 in Week 19.

    Interestingly, if you look at the table above, the impressions for Times Now have also leapfrogged, and so have the number for CNN-News18 and NDTV 24×7.

    The numbers of course are thanks to the until-so-far-not illegal way of making use of distribution dynamics which allows for multiple distribution points by way of negotiations with the last mile.

    Said Arnab Goswami, Founder, Republic TV:  “I feel blessed with the love, support and the massive viewership that Republic TV has received. It reaffirms my faith that people watch what they find credible. I am deeply grateful to the people of this country for making Republic TV, the No. 1 news channel in India.”

    Added Vikas Khanchandani, CEO, Republic TV said, “We attribute our success and the channel’s credibility, strong line-up of experienced journalists led by fantastic leader and managing editor. Our cohesive & motivated team has worked tirelessly to get us here. Content is king and differentiated content is God and Republic has managed to connect with audiences across age profiles which differentiates us from all the rest in the genre.”

     

  • According to an announcement made on the channel, Republic claims 52% viewership, the next channel being half the viewership numbers

    Republic TV, the New #1?

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    BARCIndia, the joint industry body, that measures television audiences in India hasn’t released its data to the media as yet. But they have reached subscribers as of 11am today (May 18), and the numbers have now been claimed by Republic TV on its broadcast.

    Note, while we have no reason to disbelieve Republic, these numbers are not verfied by MxMIndia, and BARC has not shared its numbers with MxMIndia – under embargo otherwise.

    The claims:

    * Republic viewership is 51.8% in its debut week (Week 19 as per BARC data readings). The second best channel has 25% viewership.

    * Republic has 60 per cent viewership

    * Republic viewership is more than 550 times that of the third channel

    According to a statement on the channel, founder, chief promoter and editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami said: “Deeply grateful to people of India”

    The second and third channel being references to Times Now and India Today.

    Please await detailed and official numbers by 1.30pm today

  • I am not sure how legally tenable the complaint is, but in my limited view, it was unethical, writes Pradyuman Maheshwari

    Mediaah!: Is BCCL right in registering a copyright infringement complaint against Arnab Goswami?

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Is Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited (BCCL) right in registering a copyright infringement complaint against Arnab Goswami? Yes, it is. I am not sure how legally tenable the complaint is, but in my limited view, it was unethical. When the story was first aired on Republic TV on May 8, one couldn’t help sitting up and take notice. But then along with the various questions that Goswami raised in his ‘super exclusive’, there were some questions that I had.

     

    The Economic Times report (Page 3, May 17, Mumbai edition)

    See report in Economic Times on the complaint: link

    In fact, I tweeted about it (see link).

    The fact that it was only retweeted twice indicates that copyright and editorial ethics aren’t considered very critical and holy to many (or most?) in India. Copyright, it’s often joked, is the right to copy!

    But this isn’t about copyright. That’s something for Times Network owners to take up with the Courts.

    It’s an issue of ethics.

    The recordings of the conversation between Prema Sridevi, the reporter and Shashi Tharoor or Sunanda Pushkar’s Man Friday was done when the reporter reportedly worked with Times Now. Unless her terms expressly stated it, or she was just a freelancer with the channel, the recordings belong to work done when the reporter was an employee.I am not sure what is the legal view on it, but it’s not ethical.

    I am not even raising issues of why Goswami and Sridevi, now Editor-News at Repulic,  didn’t air the recording when they were in Times Now, but that’s not really my concern though it’s a question that must be answered.

    The Nation wants to know…

     

    **

     

    All eyes are now on the BARC India numbers that will be out tomorrow (Thursday, May 18). Given all the promotions and distribution via multiple frequencies, it’s quite likely that Republic will be #1, but the question is that it’s not a play over one week. Republic can’t be spending so much monies on distribution as it’s today, so the real story will emerge after a few weeks when it opts of taking multiple frequencies.

    To Goswami’s credit, his equity with viewers is huger than all the other anchors. The MxMIndia-MRSSINDIA poll earlier this week indicated that Rajdeep Sardesai is a close second and not a distant one in the trust factor, but it’s for India Today to use this to their advantage. Possibly promote Sardesai a little more.

    We’re going to see some interesting times over the next few weeks or months. And we aren’t complaining

     

    Pradyuman Maheshwari is Editor-in-Chief and founder, MxMIndia. The views expressed here are his own.

     

  • Even as the numbers from BARC are awaited, our study throws up some interesting findings… read on

    The MxMIndia-MRSSINDIA Poll on English News Channels

     

    By  A Correspondent

     

    India has seen launches of several media entities. But in recent years, the launch of Republic TV has been the most high profile. This could be possibly because of the entities involved: Arnab Goswami, decidedly the most well-known journalists across genres, and Times Now, which is part of one of India’s largest, richest and most powerful media conglomerates.

     

    While Republic TV launched on May 6, and there have been some numbers from OTT platform Hotstar and digital media that have come in, the numbers of consequence – from BARC India – will be out only on Thursday, May 18.

     

    MxMIndia commissioned leading marketing and opinion research firm MRSS India (www.mrssindia.com) to conduct a small study to find the mood of the masses, especially in urban India.

     

    Here’s the summary of the findings:

    :: Majority of English news channel viewers mentioned they are aware of ‘Republic TV’ English news channel and most of them (41%) perceive it to be ‘Better than Others’.

    :: Centre wise, Mumbai (41%) perceive it as ‘More Credible’, Delhi (39%) find it ‘Old Wine …’, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Ahmedabad English news channel viewers find Republic TV ‘Better than others’.

    :: Aggressive approach is found more appropriate for Debates, Breaking news and Analysis & interpretations. whereas, softer approach is found more appropriate for News deliver, soft news, sports and business news.

    :: Most viewers look at News channels to be opinionated but there is also a strong sense of believe that news channels should also play a vital role in bringing about political or social changes.

    :: Overall, print is a more trusted source (51%), closely followed by News channels, currently online (websites) are not considered a trust worthy source. News paper is more trusted by viewers in New Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Chennai. News Channels are considered better trusted source by viewers in Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

    :: When it is need to verify news, the first source is News Television (54%). This is more in Chennai (54%), Kolkata (68%) and Ahmedabad (67%).

    :: Arnab Goswami and Rajdeep Sardesai are considered the most trusted news anchor by close to 1/3rd of the viewers. Barkha Dutt comes at third place. While Goswami leads comfortably in Bengaluru and Kolkata. Sardesai has higher trust value in New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. Dutt is relatively strong in Ahmedabad and Chennai.

    :: Among the English news channels visited in last 1 week, Republic TV was 41%, Times Now is 35%, followed by NDTV 24×7 is 32%.

  • While Shailesh Kapoor focuses on the Arnab Goswami channel, Ranjona Banerji puts it in perspective with the others

    Two views on Week 1 of Republic

     

    Republic TV: Week 1 In Review 

    The stance seems so overpowering that it is beginning to overtake the content itself, writes Shailesh Kapoor

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    He arrived, back into our lives, on Saturday, May 6, 10 AM. There was even a hashtag to mark the occasion. It was called #May6WithArnab. Arnab Goswami’s absence from the small screen may not have changed the politics of India, but it kept us deprived of his unique brand of journalism.

    The channel has been on-air for six days now. Here’s a review of its rather eventful first week:

    The positives first. I liked that opening speech on May 6. Arnab was like he’s in real life: Candid, warm, even smiling. Wish we saw this side of him more often. Pleasantries done, he came all guns blazing at us, with what has been a regular feature on the channel in the first week: Republic Super Exclusive.

    It’s been six days and the channel has covered roughly the same number of stories. There are no headlines, side-news, IPL news, Bollywood news, feature shows etc. Talk about focus, and it’s here to see. This focus makes Republic TV is easily the most unidimensional news brand India has. It’s a differentiator alright. How many Super Exclusives can they find after the launch euphoria is over, will be the key to how well this focus sustains.

    The packaging is good, though derivative of what we have seen before. The channel is well-connected and available. The Hotstar deal, just ahead of the launch, is a huge plus. Early number on Hotstar have been very positive, giving the channel a genuine additional platform, which is far from effective than channel apps and websites.

    But all was not right in the first week. The first problem was a known, expected problem. The channel evidently lacks a strong second line of reporters. Arnab has been propping many in his team over the last six days, but none of them are seasoned names. They are clearly trying to learn from the man and grow. Which means that they will try and become like him. Which doesn’t work, as we have seen in the past on Times Now.

    The second issue for me is a bigger one. Some of these Super Exclusives being “broken” are dated, from a time when Republic TV was not even envisaged, forget being in existence. The most striking example here is the so-called exposé on what Goswami keeps calling the “Sunanda Pushkar murder”.

    The said story is based on taped conversations between journalist Prema Sridevi and Pushkar’s staff. These conversations date back to 2014, from the day before and the day of the “murder”. Sridevi was working for Times Now then. She even mentions Goswami in one of the phone calls, as being the person who asked her to meet Pushkar.

    Both Goswami and Sridevi were with Times Now for almost three years since those calls were made. He would have done at least a dozen (probably a lot more) prime-time debates on this topic on the channel in that period. But the said tapes never made their way on-air. Whatever be the reason, the material, technically, is the property of Times Now, but is being used on a platform that now’s in fierce competition with it. This one point of ethical departure is difficult to justify.

    Many of the Super Exclusives have been based on thin evidence and are more suggested “scams” than real ones. But that’s been the nature of Goswami’s attacks on politicians over years. Not surprisingly, there have been no stings exposing anyone in the BJP so far. It could be a while before that happens.

    But what bothered me the most is that there’s even more aggression in Goswami’s approach on Republic, with his stance being more confrontational, to the point of being forced confrontational at times. It’s as if a rebel has been freed of all the clutches he was being controlled by earlier.

    Goswami’s style was always abrasive, and there was no need to outdo himself. He was already on the edge, and I fear he may have gone too far this time. Being a voice of the nation and the people is good, but here, the stance seems so overpowering that it is beginning to overtake the content itself. It can easily backfire. We will have to wait and watch.

    Early numbers will be good and you can be rest assured Goswami will flash them all over his screen and make it a Super Exclusive too. The first week has been action-packed, but not necessarily rock-solid. Let’s see where this Republic is heading.

     

    		 The Republic & The Others 

    The upshot of the launch of Republic TV is that practically every news channel is following Goswami’s example, writes Ranjona Banerji

     

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The funniest thing on Twitter in the past few days is Rahul Kanwal, managing editor of India Today TV, grumbling that Arnab Goswami’s Republic TV is BJP-sponsored. There may be no doubt that there is a strong BJP link to Republic. But there has been little doubt to the average TV viewer that India Today TV, Kanwal and his fellow news anchor Gaurav Sawant, are exceptionally pro-BJP. Sawant’s investigative report into how UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s pet cows were so excited to meet him will go down in the annals of Indian journalism as a chamchagiri classic. Now that Karan Thapar’s shows are no longer on India Today TV, there remains RajdeepSardesai to provide a semblance of “neutrality” on that channel.

    Indeed what seems to have happened to most English news television in India – with the possible exception of NDTV – since the launch of Republic TV is a deplorable race to prove which is the most “patriotic”, that is pro-BJP, channel. The immediate focus for most is therefore Pakistan and the armed forces. The death of a soldier in Kashmir by suspected militants has whipped TV journalists into an enormous frenzy of rage and revenge. The second focus is Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, probably for his unending onslaught on the rigging of electronic voting machines. The third and frankly most idiotic “expose” was Republic TV’s launch – Lalu Yadav. Even a first year journalism student (I don’t hold my breath here) ought to know that the cattle fodder case against the Bihar leader is 20 years old and that he is banned from contesting elections after being convicted. And then there was Republic TV accusing Congress member Shashi Tharoor of murdering his wife. Words fail at the lack of journalistic sense or judgment.

    Running through news channels on Thursday night, this is what I saw:

    NDTV: Triple Talaq
    India Today TV: Kejriwal is a thief
    CNNNews18: A buffalo is under arrest in UP
    NewsX: Forget Doordarshan, we’ll tell you what Modiji inaugurated
    Mirror Now: Don’t drink water in Gurugram
    Times Now: Kashmir is burning, ZakirNaik is a traitor
    Republic TV: The Army should run the world and no one should ask questions.

    What no news channel focused on was the government itself and what it was doing or not doing. Does it bear repeating that the current government at the Centre has been in power for three years now? When Pakistan attacks India, when Kashmir is in turmoil, when there are allegations of election rigging, when there are problems with the Aadhar system, when the country faces drought, when farmers are on strike, when the effects of demonetisation continue, what journalist worth his or her salt puts the opposition under the scanner?

    The composition of panels for our nightly “debates” provides the answers. You are lucky if you can find even one government representative on them amidst the 500 screaming guests. At best, there’s a BJP spokesperson. But a party spokesperson does not speak for the government. Though as we all know, in spite of all the sucking up, this government does not speak to the media. The prime minister limits himself to platitudes on a monthly radio show and that’s the best you are going to get.

    The upshot of the launch of Republic TV is that practically every news channel is following Goswami’s example. All credit to him there. But by allowing Republic TV to set the agenda, his competitors are losing the ground they had captured after Goswami quit Times Now. Goswami’s “attack all Muslims and support the BJP” approach will necessarily have limited scope, no matter committed anyone may be to the Hindutva system. But that is Republic TV’s agenda and Goswami’s own style. It is not possible to do more than mimic him which is pointless when the original is out there. The rest of India’s news channels still have the option to go their own way without falling into Goswami’s trap.

    The next step would be to practise some real journalism.

    Breathe deep.

     

     
  • The target for Arnab Goswami and his backers is never likely to be the BJP government or the Prime Minister or indeed any minister in the BJP, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: When TV journalists lose all semblance of being observers, reporters & editors

    By Ranjona Banerji

    Coming back to India this week after a month away in the UK, I see that I have Republic TV’s commitment to nationalism to look forward to. Or, in another way of putting it, more of the same but this time, with a great leap backwards to Arnab Goswami.

    Advertising appears to suggest that Goswami and his news channel will be “Pakistan’s migraine” and that the mantle of nationalism that has been lying forgotten will now be won with pride. That India’s borders will defended to the last shout in Indian TV studios. Where else, you may ask, should India’s borders be defended?

    However, given the make-up of Republic TV and much of Indian news television, almost no one is likely to question how and why India’s borders have been breached quite so often in recent times or how terrorists from Pakistan have walked into armed areas with so much apparent ease. Perhaps it is unfair of me to suggest that no one has been questioned. Over and again, India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who died in 1964 has been questioned. His great grandson Rahul Gandhi, who has not held any constitutional administrative post has also been questioned. No one currently in power has been found responsible in any way.

    My fellow columnist Jaisurya Das was asked recently if “decorum was dead in the news media”, after a news anchor told a studio guest from Pakistan to “shut up”. Jaisurya commented: “This is typical of the immature arrogance of anchors who often forget where to draw the line in their effort to build TRPs. Little do they realise that such language and demeanour only turns people off and they stand to lose more in the bargain.”

    That people are writing in to complain about such behaviour is small comfort when you know the immense reach and influence that TV has on the public. Adulation, stardom, hatred, familiarity all allow TV journalists to become bigger than they are. The result is that they lose all semblance of being journalists, of being observers, reporters and editors. Sadly, TV has brought out the worst in us.

    Goswami in his interview to Pradyuman Maheshwari before the launch of Republic TV declared that he was proud of his nationalism and that he held no truck with “Aman ki Asha”, an initiative towards dialogue with Pakistan started by his former employer, the Times of India.

    This makes for an intriguing position – would any attempt at peace with Pakistan be stopped by Goswami? If the current Indian government tried it, would he fight them? Is diplomacy to him a lost cause already? Because Goswami operates only within the confines of one news show, it is hard to grasp his intellectual position on such matters. Is humankind doomed to never make peace in his mind?

    Interestingly and perhaps expectedly, Republic TV’s big “scoop” on launch day was some expose on former Bihar chief minister Lalu Yadav. As anyone with any smattering of political knowledge is aware, Yadav is already debarred from standing for elections because of corruption cases. The target for Goswami and his backers is never likely to be the BJP government or the Prime Minister or indeed any minister in the BJP.

    Once you know that, it makes life and choices much easier. As Maheshwari pointed out in a column here last week, “Or is it that a country which is not too fussed on ethics and corruption, passage of time ensures things are forgotten and condoned. We all know of some entities indulging in unethical practices, but do we really shun them? On the contrary, we embrace them. We allow them to flourish. We read or watch them, we attend or speak at their events, we accept their awards.

    Perhaps we deserve such a media.”

    Do wee?

     

    Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator and Consulting Editor, MxMIndia. The views expressed here are personal

  • It's our third 'big story' on Republic, but then it's perhaps one of the biggest media launches in the last decade

    Can Republic TV kill Competition?

     

     By Pradyuman Maheshwari [updated]

    For a television channel that’s determined to fight for the need for transparency in public life and government, its launch date appears to be a closely guarded secret. But now it’s confirmed: Tomorrow, May 6. Why a Saturday, one may ask. Because that’s the first day of the week (Week #19 of 2017) as per BARC measurement. And Goswami, as he must, keeps a close watch on his viewership numbers.

    Before we had  confirmation on the date, we did have word from the Star India Corporate’s PR agency that Republic TV would start streaming on the OTT platform with effect from tomorrow. No time stated.

    Having said that, Republic is on a roll in terms of marketing across media. It has a healthy set of advertisers: Vivo, Jio, Renault, Hike, Yes Bank, Microsoft, Ravin, Nestaway, Future Group, Havell’s, Gionee, Lloyd, Raymond and Ola. Star India, we are told by sources, will continue to be an advertiser, though its logo is missing from today’s Mint ad.

    We asked ChromeDM, specialists in research on connectivity to give us a report on the availability of Republic TV, for, distribution along with content and revenues will eventually speak about the success of the channel.

    And this is what Pankaj Krishna, Founder & CEO, Chrome DM said: “Currently, on an average, an English News Channels has an availability of 45.1% among Urban Homes in India. With its soft launch, Republic has 18.4% Urban India availability (as per Chrome OTS or Opportunity to See, 3rd May 2017). In Mega Cities, Republic is currently available in 32% of the Households.”

    Note this is for data as of May 3. A distribution industry expert we spoke with said that the availability will leapfrog once the channel goes on air, as even though the deal is inked, some discerning networks do not like to air test signals. So the expert we spoke with said the ChromeDM data as of now may not be the right measure to look at right now.

    However, MxMIndia is a neutral observer and it’s important that you know facts as they are. Also, according to the ad, distribution deals have been inked with all platforms. Other than Hotstar, Republic will be available on Jio, Ditto and we are sure other platforms too.

    “There’s a buzz around Republic TV, and even if deals aren’t inked, viewers will want to watch it and will ask for it… at least for the first few weeks. Moreover, it’s free-to-air, so the pull factor increases,” said one distribution network owner.

    A media buyer and marketer we spoke with requested to speak on anonymity. Here’s what both echoed.

    1. That the buzz around Arnab Goswami has increased after he quit his previous employer.
    2. The legal notice which Goswami spoke about making an emotional appeal touched a chord, and there is a certain amount of sympathy for him.
    3. The issues with Pakistan are raging, and that’s a topic Goswami is passionate about
    4. There are enough inefficiencies across the country which Goswami will definitely dwell on

    Meanwhile, other channels are also getting their act together. Both India Today and CNN-IBN have launched shows at 7pm and also relooked at the rest of the primetime programming. Extension of primetime to 7pm will expand the viewership in all.

    As per BARC ratings for Week 17 (April 22 to 28), Times Now was the leader followed by India Today, CNN-News18, NDTV 24×7 and BBC World News. NewsX and WION didn’t figure in the Top 5. This data is for urban and rural viewership from amongst males of 22 years and above.

    MxMIndia also spoke to industry captains and while all of them wish Republic TV and Arnab Goswami the very best, they do acknowledge that it’s not going to be an easy ask. There are comparisons made to how CNN-IBN (now CNN-News18) scored a march over NDTV 24×7 when Rajdeep Sardesai started the channel, but those were early in the history of English news television in India. Times Now didn’t exist and Headlines Today (now India Today) was near-inconsequential.

    And what is our view? Well, who doesn’t like a David outwits/ outshines/ kills Goliath story. We all love it. But then we are going to be as neutral as it’s possible. We report on the business regardless who gives us business.

    However, there are issues which are beyond just R&R… in this case ratings and revenues. It’s the kind of journalism we will see on Republic TV. And hence across all channels. Will channels talking about the noise be contributing to the noise in their own way? Will the new style of television journalism – nationalism and raising questions against it – actually damage situation on the ground, even though the viewership of English news channels is limited.

    It’s our third ‘Big Story’ on Republic. Or fourth? We’ve lost count. But, then, it’s possibly one of the biggest media launches in the last decade.

    The last question to ourselves (and as in the headline): Do we see Republic TV killing Competition?

    Our response: We don’t know. Yes, we do care and we will be delighted to report on the numbers. We will await the BARC ratings over the next few weeks quite how in the old Hindi films the old parents would wait for the ‘daakiya’ for an update.

    Our normal end-line would’ve been: May the best channel win.

    But here, we will say: May good (and smart) journalism win.

    Now don’t say who cares!