Description
Republic TV is an Indian television news channel.
Co-founded by Arnab Goswami (former editor-in-chief of Times Now), the channel was launched on 6 May 2017 as a free-to-air channel. The venture was primarily funded, among others, by co-founder Rajeev Chandrasekhar (then an independent legislator from the National Democratic Alliance) through his company Asianet News; Goswami became the majority owner on 6 May 2019, after Chandrasekhar parted his stake.
Critical reception has been negative. It has been accused of practicing biased reporting in favor of the BJP and propagating fake news. It has also been convicted of breaching TRAI and NBSA rules, leading to censures and subject to a high-profile defamation case by INC Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor.
The Financial Express noted the Republic TV to be the most watched English news channel in India for 100 weeks in a row since its founding. The top news channel spot was taken over by DD India, a public service broadcaster, in February 2019, according to the Indian newspaper Live Mint. In the first quarter of 2019, Republic TV and DD India have alternated for the most-watched channel position in the English channel news weekly ratings as measured by BARC India group.
Arnab Goswami has been noted to be a critical factor behind the favorable public reception.
