MUMBAI: The Week 1 performance means that in just 7 days Republic Bharat has made tremendous inroads and on boarded audiences that some established brands have taken many years to reach. The breathtaking start for Republic Bharat, which delivered exclusive after exclusive in novel formats within the hard news space, has not only shaken up the entire Hindi news genre with its thunderous entry but has also sounded the bell for all content players in Hindi news ahead of the crucial election.
Coming on the back of storming into English news with Republic TV in May 2017, Arnab Goswami’s Hindi news brand’s Week 1 reach is unprecedented when compared to other launches within the Hindi Genre. The Highest reach genre which is Hindi Movies has seen 2 launches in last 3 years i.e. Rishtey Cineplex and Sony Wah andboth the channels launched with a reach of 5 Crs in its opening week and have grown today 3X of their entry reach numbers.
Meanwhile, continuing his run of being the top-news anchor in the country, Republic Bharat’s editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami’s own 7pm debate show, Poochta Hai Bharat, on his newly launched Hindi channel has garnered the highest reach in the genre.
“This is a brilliant start. Republic Bharat has beaten six channels and has a reach of seven crore plus in week one. No Hindi channel has had such a start and it's a matter of time before we hit no 1 now,” Republic Media Network editor in chief and managing director Arnab Goswami said.
Bharat’s extensive focus on big stories within its first week of broadcast creative massive impact with #MamtaBlocksCBI and #ShardaStings which not only delivered blockbuster impressions on social media but have also got Republic Bharat the #2 position in West Bengal.
Republic Network CEO Vikas Khanchandani said, “We are extremely happy that Republic Bharat has opened the charts with a massive 73 Mn reach in its maiden week. Our distribution and content teams have worked very hard to give us this fantastic start within the mass reach genre. The reach garnered is the highest that any new hindi channel launch has delivered in its opening week in the last 3 years. I am extremely confident that with this magnificent start the channel will move into the top slot much faster than I anticipated. I am extremely grateful to our audiences and partners that have helped us with their support and acceptance within the Hindi news category.”
With Republic Bharat leaping into the market and basing its content on bringing back hard news to Hindi news television right from Week 1, the large-scale debut of the channel clubbed with its unmatched launch-week reach means that the channel is all set to be a front runner in the category in the big election season.
IPG Mediabrands CEO Shashi Sinha said, “The Republic team has worked hard to deliver a reach of 73 MN in its week of launch. They have given a repeat performance on their launch strategy by delivering big breaking stories and delivering massive reach. It's a very good start and will give them an opportunity to build reach and market share in the coming weeks as the news genre sampling is very high in the run up to Elections. The Hindi genre is seeing an entry of another strong brand after a long gap of 6 years.
