One of the most anticipated channel launches in India, Arnab Goswami’s Republic TV, announced that it has made a stunning debut on Hotstar breaking several viewership records in its very first day on the platform.
Republic TV crossed a million viewers on Hotstar within a day of its launch, marking a spectacular debut for a new service that made digital central to the introduction of its service. Hotstar, India’s leading streaming platform and Republic, the nation’s most awaited news venture had, early last week, announced a strategic partnership to shape the future of news online. In a first, Hotstar opened up its platform for a third party content provider and introduced News as a distinct category on the platform.
Republic TV announced that it has created leadership in the most coveted news audience in the country, the urban viewers. Republic’s reach, on Hotstar alone, exceeded that of the top English news channels on television, including Times Now, India Today TV, CNN News18 and NDTV 24*7, amongst both, the Urban M15+ audience as well as viewers in the top 60 cities in India.
It is a dramatic announcement, given these viewership benchmarks are from a single digital platform. To make the comparison stark, the viewership exceeded that of traditional news channels significantly:
· 208% of Times Now
· 229% of India Today
· 311% of CNN News18
· 254% of NDTV 24X7
*comparison with TV BARC data within All India 1Mn+ towns including megacities for Sat, Apr 22 2017
Commenting on the same, Ajit Mohan,CEO, Hotstar, said, “This is an exciting start and is a testimony to the impactful launch of Republic and the strength of the Hotstar platform – which has become the de facto destination for young, Digital India.”
Vikas Khanchandani, CEO, Republic TV, said, “Republic will be the largest and most impactful news platform. We are excited to partner with Hotstar and bring in an entirely new audience to the Republic community. We are also thrilled to have taken a leadership position on debut itself”