News Broadcasting
Republic TV continues to lead English news genre despite bumps
BENGALURU: Broadcast Audience Research Council of India’s (BARC) weekly data for week 45 of 2017 (Saturday, 4 November 2017 to Friday, 10 November 2017) reveals that Republic TV’s viewership has reached a new low point since it was launched in May 2017. Despite garnering just 0.524 million weekly impressions during the week under consideration, Republic TV still led the Indian English news genre for the 27th week in a row right from its launch week—week 19 of 2017. The Arnab Goswami-led channel has steadfastly held on to the first rank that it grabbed from Times Now in week 19, garnering genre-topping viewership of 2.117 million weekly impressions. Even if one were to eliminate data for week 21 when the other Indian English news channels with the backing of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) withdrew from BARC ratings, Republic TV has had a remarkable run so far.
With a dip in Republic TV ratings, the combined ratings of the top-five channels (All India (U+R): NCCS AB: Males 22+ Individuals) during week 45 have also dipped to the lowest ratings ever since the launch of Republic TV. The combined weekly ratings of the top-five English news channels for the week under consideration are just 1.816 million impressions, much lower than the impressions that Republic TV alone had garnered in week 19 of 2017.
News Broadcasting
Times Network to air JVC Exit Poll across 5 regions on April 29
Four-hour broadcast spans states and Puducherry with data-led analysis
MUMBAI: Times Network is set to roll out what it calls one of its most expansive election programming efforts yet, culminating in the JVC Exit Poll on 29 April, with a multi-hour broadcast spanning key poll-bound regions.
The exit poll will air across Times Now and Times Now Navbharat, beginning at 5pm and 4pm respectively. Co-powered by Vedanta and Jindal Stainless, the programming aims to combine on-ground reportage with data-driven projections across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry.
The network has deployed over 50 journalists across these regions, gathering voter sentiment and local insights in the run-up to polling. The effort builds on its ongoing election formats such as Election Yatra and Election Premier League, which have tracked campaign narratives and community-level issues.
In parallel, Times Now Navbharat has focused on constituency-level reporting in West Bengal through its Jan Gan ka Mann series, capturing voter opinions across diverse segments.
The coverage has also featured interviews with prominent political leaders. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala and V D Satheesan have appeared on the network’s election specials. From Tamil Nadu, voices including deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran, BJP leader K Annamalai and NTK’s Seeman have also featured in discussions.
On the day of the exit poll, the network’s primetime anchors, including Navika Kumar, Zakka Jacob and Sumit Awasthi, will lead the coverage. They will be joined by a panel of political analysts, psephologists and senior journalists offering real-time insights and interpretation of trends.
The programming will integrate grassroots reportage with analytics from the JVC Exit Poll, aiming to give viewers an early sense of electoral outcomes ahead of the official results on 4 May.
With its combined English and Hindi broadcast reach, Times Network is positioning this effort as a comprehensive look at voter sentiment, blending field reporting, data and debate to decode what could lie ahead when the final mandate is revealed.
