BENGALURU: Republic TV has done it again, if one were to go by the Indian ratings monitor Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) numbers flashed by it on the channel. Republic TV claims viewership percentage of 43 percent overall and 57 percent during primetime for week 22 (Saturday, 27 May 2017 to Friday, 2 June 2017). The channel says that it has been number one across all segments in week 22.
Republic TV shared viewership details of the other peers in the English News genre: Times Now-32.3 percent; CNN News 18-5.8 percent; India Today News-10.1 percent; NDTV-8.2 percent; News X-2.7 percent.
“The viewership debate is over, we are number 1. It is now one month since we have been in operation and we have now become undisputed leaders in this genre. The game has just begun and we are now absolutely unstoppable. We will take the game to the next level,” said Republic TV editor-in-chief during a live telecom with Republic TV anchor Hariharan aired on his channel.
In the meantime, Times Now has been flashing on its channel that it is no one in the English News genre with a relative viewership of 39 percent while putting Republic TV at second place with a relative viewership of 37 percent. Times Now puts India Today TV’s relative share at 7 percent, CNN News 18 and NDTV 24x7 at 5 percent each.
It may be recalled that in a coordinated move, English News channels had pulled out of BARC on 18 May, only to return to the BARC fold on from midnight of 26 May. English News channels backed by the News Broadcast Association had stripped their signals of BARC audio watermarks. The NBA had requested BARC not to publish Republic TV’s ratings, alleging that the channel has resorted to rampant multiple LCN placements on cable TV networks across the country.
In the first week of operations (BARC week 19), Republic TV had a viewership share of 52 percent, which fell to 49 percent in BARC week 20. Data for week 21 for the English News was irrelevant because of the withdrawal Republic TV’s major competitors from BARC ratings.
