News Broadcasting
BJP MP Swamy finds holes in Arnab Goswami’s ‘Republic’
MUMBAI: Arnab Goswami’s up and coming TV news channel, ‘Republic’, is back in the news and limelight. This time, though, criticism is from an unlikely quarter. BJP Member of Parliament Subramaniam Swamy now has questioned the use of the world ‘republic’ for commercial use, citing Indian laws.
In a letter dated 13 January 2017, Swamy wrote to the secretary, ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) : “It has come to my notice that a new TV channel under the name of “Republic” is in the process of being launched… It may be noticed that certain names and emblems are prohibited from being used under the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950 for professional and commercial purposes. As per the schedule accompanying the statute, under Item 6, there is an express prohibition from using the phrase, “Republic”. ”
Indiantelevision could not independently confirm the authenticity of Swamy’s letter and get a comment from ‘Republic’, scheduled for a reported formal launch tomorrow (26 January).
Industry observers felt that, though Swamy’s letter may cause some flutter, but it’s highly unlikely that Goswami’s venture would be torpedoed at this moment and stage of completion.
Swamy, generally regarded as the trouble shooter for the BJP and the nationalist-party led coalition government in New Delhi has caused a spot of bother for Goswami and his team of investors, which include another BJP MP and enterpreneur Rajeev Chandrashekhar.
Swamy’s letter to MIB, posted on his official Twitter page, goes on to suggest that “grant of licence to a news channel to broadcast under the name of ‘Republic’ will be contrary to law and a direct breach of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950.”
Industry observers felt that though Swamy’s letter may cause some flutter, but it’s highly unlikely that goswami’s venture would be torpedoed at this moment and stage of completion.
Goswami’s venture had applied for uplinking and downlinking of a news channel in late November 2016 and he was appointed ARG Outlier MD on 19 November 2016, a day after he left Times Now.
Chandrasekhar, reportedly, has invested over Rs 30 crore or Rs 300 million in ARG Outlier whereas Goswami’s SARG Media Holding is the main investor. According to latest information with the Registrar of Companies, which have been put out in public domain by various media organisations and not denied by Goswami or his investors, the largest SARG investor (Rs 7.5 crore) is Ranjan Ramdas Pai of Aarin Capital Partners. Mumbai’s Asian Heart Institute owner Ramakanta Panda has invested Rs 5 crore while investor Hemendra Kothari has put in Rs 2.5 crore. Other investors inlcude R Naresh and Shobhana Ramachandhran of TVS Tyres, Renaissance Jewellery and SRF Transnational owner Niranjan Shah, Sameer Manchanda, Sanjeev Manchanda (DEN Networks) and Tapesh Virendra Singhi.
Swamy has appealed to the secretary: “Therefore, your office may look into the use of “Republic” and determine if it is prohibited to issue a license under such a name.”
It remains to be seen whether a slight tweak in the actual name, Republicworld, would save the first most significant feature of Goswami’s new venture — the name.
For info of PTs pic.twitter.com/L2YxhPOeRg
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) January 25, 2017
News Broadcasting
News TV viewership jumps 33 per cent as West Asia war draws audiences
BARC Week 8 data shows news share rising to 8 per cent despite T20 World Cup
NEW DELHI: Even as individual television news channel ratings remain under a temporary pause, the genre itself is seeing a clear surge in audience attention.
According to the latest data from Broadcast Audience Research Council India, television news recorded a 33 per cent jump in genre share in Week 8 of 2026, covering February 28 to March 6.
The news genre accounted for 8 per cent of total television viewership during the week, up from 6 per cent the previous week. The spike in attention coincided with escalating geopolitical tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which have kept global headlines firmly fixed on West Asia.
The rise is notable because it came at a time when cricket was dominating television screens. The high-stakes stages of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, including the Super 8 fixtures and semi-finals, were being broadcast during the same period.
Despite the cricket frenzy, viewers appeared to be toggling between sport and global affairs, boosting the overall share of news programming.
The surge in genre share comes even as the government has enforced a one-month pause on publishing ratings for individual news channels. The move followed regulatory scrutiny of the television ratings ecosystem.
While channel-level rankings remain temporarily out of sight, the genre-level data suggests that when global tensions escalate, audiences continue to turn to television news for real-time updates.
