Republic TV founder Arnab Goswami on Thursday bashed his counterparts Times Now and India Today Group’s Aaj Tak after securing the first position in TRP ratings. Goswami lashed out at the two news channels and said, “Look in your back and see why you lost today?”
Arnab Goswami took a jibe at Aaj Tak and asked, “TAK why you lost? Nation wants to know? Look in your pocket and see why you lost today? Accept that we have lost. Republic Bharat has completely defeated Aaj Tak. Your people are on the board of BARC, how will you question the ratings now?”
“Republic Bharat beat Aaj Tak with its coverage on Ukraine and elections and garnered record-breaking viewership,” he said.
Arnab Goswami claimed that according to BARC, “Republic Media Network has emerged as the largest news network in the country. The three channels of the network – Republic TV, Republic Bharat and Republic Bangla – have been rated No. 1 in their respective categories. We are number 1 in all states, demographics, ages, populations and regions of India.”
The Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) had in October 2020 stopped releasing ratings of television news channels after the alleged TRP (Television Rating Points) scam controversy surfaced.
Param Bir Singh, the then top police officer of Mumbai had an extraordinary press conference to accuse Republic TV of manipulating TV data, in which he made several revelations. Mumbai Police had alleged that ratings were being rigged by influencing the houses where the monitors were installed.
It is worth noting that the cost of advertising is affected by the audience estimates given by BARC. This is the reason why there is a competition among the channels regarding TRP rating.