News Broadcasting
Republic TV continues to lead English News genre for 16th consecutive week
BENGALURU: The Arnab Goswamin-led Indian English news channel Republic TV continued to lead the genre for the sixteenth week in a row (fifteenth, if numbers for week 21 are not considered) in week 34 (Saturday, 19 August 2017 to Friday, 25 August 2017).
Republic TV was launched on 6 May 2017, the first day of week 19 of 2017 and has been leading the genre since. The channel garnered 1.048 million weekly impressions, in week 34, almost the same as the 1.044 million weekly impressions it had in the previous week.
As reported by Indiantelevision.com earlier, just a couple of weeks after the launch of Republic TV – in week 21, its peer Indian English news channels had withdrawn their watermarks owing to which BARC was unable to fairly measure ratings for the English News genre – the rebelling channels didn’t want BARC to measure the new entrant’s ratings, claiming that Republic TV was using unfair means to garner more ratings. BARC refused to kowtow, saying that it was only a measuring agency, not a compliance agency. For one week ratings of Indian English News channels were not published by BARC, until the erring channels returned to the BARC audience measurement fold.
For a change, this Thursday, just post 1100 am when BARC reveals ratings to channels, Times Now did mention the breakup in percentage terms its overall relative share as has been the norm. The channel just ran a still showing that it had a relative share of 37 percent. It’s bête noire, Republic TV, however did give a breakup of primetime ratings from its perspective. Both channels however did continue their traditional ticker tapes boasts and claims, while running each other down.
Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) data for Top 5 English News channels (All India (U+R) : NCCS AB : Males 22+ Individuals) for week 34 reveals that two of the top 5 English News channels lost viewership in week 34 as compared to week 33. While Times Now lost ratings, CNN News 18 and NDTV 24×7 interchanged fourth and fifth places in week 34, with the latter losing viewership. Overall, the genre seems to have reported lower viewership if one were to go by the combined weekly impressions of the top 5 English News channels in week 34 ad compared to week 33. The combined weekly impressions of the top five English News channels were 2.979 million in week 34 as compared to 3.091 million in week 33.
Republic TV’s closest competitor Times Now lost over 203,000 weekly impressions at the reported 0.836 million weekly impressions in week 34 as compared to the 1.039 million weekly impressions in week 33. India Today Television retained its third place in the list with 0.437 million weekly impressions in week 34 as compared to 0.366 million weekly impressions in week 33.
CNN News 18 was at fourth place in week 34 with 0.333 million weekly impressions as compared to fifth place in week 33 with 0.290 weekly impressions. NDTV 24×7 was fifth in the week with 0.325 million weekly impressions as compared to 0.352 million weekly impressions and fourth place in week 33.
News Broadcasting
Kamlesh Singh receives Haldi Ghati Award from MMCF
India Today Group editor honoured for three decades of journalism at Udaipur ceremony.
MUMBAI- Kamlesh Singh just turned a lifetime of sharp words into a shiny shield because when journalism wakes up a society, even the Maharana of Mewar wants to pin a medal on it.
The Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation (MMCF) conferred its prestigious Haldi Ghati Award on Kamlesh Singh, a senior editor at the India Today Group, during a ceremony in Udaipur on 15 March 2026. The national award, instituted in 1981-82, recognises “work of permanent value that initiates an awakening in society through the medium of journalism.”
Singh, who leads several editorial initiatives including Aaj Tak Radio, the Teen Taal community and The Lallantop, was presented the honour by Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar, Managing Trustee of MMCF. The citation highlighted his three decades of contributions to Indian media, innovations in digital journalism, mentoring young reporters, and his popular podcast persona “Tau” on Teen Taal, which fosters thoughtful public discourse.
The Haldi Ghati Award, named after the historic Battle of Haldighati symbolising valour and resilience, is one of four national awards given annually by MMCF. Past recipients include Tavleen Singh, Piyush Pandey and Raj Chengappa.
Other honourees this year included Padma Vibhushan Pt Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Vedamurti Devvrat Rekhe, Treeman of India Marimuthu Yoganathan, Vir Chakra Capt Rizwan Malik, and US-based researcher Molly Emma Aitken, who received the Colonel James Tod Award for contributions to understanding Mewar’s spirit and values.
In an era where headlines often shout louder than substance, the MMCF quietly reminded everyone that real journalism isn’t about noise, it’s about the quiet, persistent work that stirs society awake, one thoughtful story at a time.
