News Broadcasting
Twitter banter between India Today and Republic TV on viewership
MUMBAI: Every news channel wants to be number one, and it, of course, tries to find some metrics to declare itself as most-watched. This viewership battle has turned into a Twitter banter between two English news channels: India Today and Republic TV.
The banter started with India Today mocking Republic TV for its ‘For The Record’ tag, wherein the latter has been boasting about its viewership gain for being a leader so far this year than its peers in all India males-22-plus-individuals’ category, as per BARC.
India Today shared two promos on its Twitter handle with the caption ‘For The Record’. The first promo, which is a 21-second video, has a gramophone playing audio as similar to Republic TV’s editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami’s voice.
The second promo is even more creative, wherein an image of a cracked gramophone disc, which also called as a record, is shown with Republic TV’s name below it. India Today mocking its rival praised itself with the tagline: ‘A news channel (India Today) that doesn’t sound like a broken record’.
Retaliating to the mockery, Republic TV in its eighth part of ‘For The Record’ edition took a veiled dig at India Today quoting BARC’s data tweeted: “Republic requests SMALLER channels not to fudge numbers when BARC official data is available publicly.”
The record being the keyword here, India Today tried to play with the word and portrayed Republic TV as ‘Broken Record’ in its promo. Post week 14 numbers were out, the former ran a campaign of it being the most-watched news channel with a tag line ‘Where It Matters’, it indirectly touted the latter with its viewership growth in megacities TG males between week 12- 14, as per BARC.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to host Fury in the Gulf conclave on West Asia crisis
Three-hour summit to unpack geopolitical fallout and impact on India
MUMBAI: CNN-News18 is set to host a special three-hour broadcast, Fury in the Gulf – War Conclave, on April 7, aiming to decode the escalating West Asia crisis and its far-reaching implications for India.
Scheduled from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM, the conclave comes at a time when tensions between Iran and the United States are reshaping global geopolitics and triggering economic uncertainty. With India’s deep energy ties, trade links and large diaspora in the Gulf, the developments carry significant domestic relevance.
Built around the theme ‘Conflict, Consequences, and The Future,’ the programme will feature six curated sessions combining one-on-one interviews and panel discussions. The focus is to cut through the clutter and offer viewers a clearer understanding of the fast-evolving situation.
Key sessions include ‘Diplomacy in Times of War’ featuring Shashi Tharoor, and ‘World After the Iran Conflict’ with voices such as Ram Madhav, Reuven Azar, representatives from the European Union and the Iranian Deputy Envoy. Another session titled ‘Another Dunkirk?’ will bring together K. J. S. Dhillon and Jitin Prasada among others.
CNN-News18 editorial affairs director Rahul Shivshankar said, “In times of war, clarity becomes the most powerful tool. Fury in the Gulf – War Conclave brings together credible voices to address the questions and confusion that arise amid an overwhelming influx of information.”
He added that the initiative is aimed at delivering “facts, perspective, and insight” at a time when misinformation can easily cloud public understanding.
Echoing the sentiment, CNN-News18 CEO– English and business news Smriti Mehra said the conflict marks a defining global moment, with consequences that extend well beyond the region. She noted that the conclave seeks to present the crisis with “depth, nuance and responsibility” so audiences can better grasp its real-world impact.
As geopolitical tensions continue to dominate headlines, the conclave positions itself as an attempt to bring order to the noise, offering viewers a structured, insight-led look at a complex and rapidly shifting global situation.
