Republic Bharat (stylized as R. भारत) is a free-to-air Indian Hindi language-language news channel affiliation of Republic TV, launched on 2 February 2019, operated and owned by Republic Media Network.
History
Republic Bharat was launched on 2 February 2019 through satellite and
Cable television platforms.
Republic Bharat launched in the United Kingdom through the
Sky UK on August 15.
It has a separate UK beam with locally curated programs and events.
In October 2020, according to the Broadcast Audience Research Council, Republic Bharat has the highest TV viewership among all Hindi news channels in India.
The channel and the Republic TV network has been criticized as being a part of "Godi media" pro-Narendra Modi news outlets in India.[Dangarwala, Trisha. " Framing the Farmer’s Protests: An Analysis of Newslaundry and RepublicTV’s Coverage." PhD diss., Concordia University, 2023.]
Regulatory complaints
Soon after the launch of the channel, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) received three complaints against the channel alleging that the channel was violating TRAI's broadcast sector regulations. The complaint was filed by
TV Today. According to the complaint, Republic Bharat had declared its genre as Hindi news, but it was being added in additional genres. This was seen as a deliberate attempt to illegally garner higher Broadcast Audience Research Council ratings and increase viewership.
TRP scam
In October 2020, upon receiving a complaint accusing some channels of fraudulently inflating their viewership ratings,
Mumbai Police launched an investigation into the
TRP scam. With an inflated TRP, ARG Outlier Media (the company which owns Republic World and Republic Bharat) was allegedly able to bargain for higher revenue from advertisers.
Goswami denies the allegations and has accused the Mumbai Police of retaliating against the channel's recent criticism of their activities.
Ofcom censure
In December 2020, the channel was fined 20,000 pounds (approximately ₹21.07 lakh or USD$25,374) by the
Ofcom for broadcasting content involving "offensive language", "hate speech" and "abusive or derogatory treatment of individuals, groups, religions or communities". It was also asked to air a public apology.
Between 26 February and 9 April, the channel broadcast an apology in Hindi as well as English multiple times, throughout the day.
External links
