MUMBAI: Storming in to Hindi news television, Republic Bharat has set the news agenda and created a massive impact on social media through its first few days of going live across India.
Leading the coverage on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blocking the CBI from examinations of individuals in the Saradha case, Republic Bharat was not only the first Hindi news channel to break the story but was the only news network roll live with its massive team of on-ground reporters and in-studio anchors well-past midnight.
The #MamataBlocksCBI hashtag floated by Republic Bharat created a massive impact on social media. In the first 24 hours of the first Twitter, there were 372 Million impressions made across 21 states of India. The story hashtag was not only a top trend in Indiafor 2.5 Hours, but also had people across 16 countries participate in the conversation.
"Republic TV has been a pioneer when it comes to creating innovative news formats. With the launch of Republic Bharat, Arnab and team are taking innovation to the masses and are using social media to bring the voice of the citizens into the newsroom. With the launch of Republic Bharat, we have seen data flow into our systems within the first three days. With 372 M probable impressions and reaching 21 States across India, Republic TV clearly shows that they know how to be true market disruptors by making their presence felt”, said AmarpreetKalkat, CEO, Frrole Inc.
Republic Bharat launched with a scorcher of an investigative report about the massacre of Karsevaks in Ayodhya on Saturday. Broken by Arnab Goswami and his team at 11 am on launch day, the Karsevak Massacre investigation quickly took over national discourse from New Delhi to Kumbh and across social media.
Within a matter of 24 hours, the Republic Bharat launch story hashtag (#KarsevakMassacre) created more 88.5 Million impressions with 27 states and 3 union territories conversing on the story on Twitter alone. The story was a top national trend from 1:30pm onwards-- which was within 3.5 hours of the story being aired on the channel. Not only in India, but the story also generated conversation among global audiences digitally, garnering responses from users in 19 countries.
Through a deep investigation, Republic Bharat stung a top official who was in-charge of the Ram Janmabhoomi Police Station during the October 30th 1990 massacre of karsevaks. The Republic Bharat investigation unravelled the deep conspiracy hatched allegedly by then Mulayam Singh Yadav government to not only allow a mass killing of the gathered Karsevaks at Ayodhya but also laid bare the darkest details of the planned cover-up operation by the state machinery.
For decades, while the narrative on-record has been that only 16 people were fired upon in the October 1990 killing of Karsevaks in Ayodhya, the Republic Bharat sting operation of a cop from the time revealed that the incident entailed a ‘massacre’ of “countless” Karsevaks. Shockingly, the sting operation also unmasked the cover-up campaign which allegedly included putting together false testimonies, doctored reports, the admission of misleading victim families and the burial of Hindu Karsevak bodies to cloak the overall death toll.
With a flurry of reactions from all quarters soon after the first play out of the investigative report, Republic Bharat ensured that Arnab Goswami’s trademark impact-driven journalism made a mark on the Hindi audiences on day 1: From the Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad being among the first to react on the story to the BJP raising the issue at a press conference at a little after 6pm on Saturday; from the UP government coming on record to assure an investigation based on Republic Bharat’s launch story moments after the report aired to the Shiv Sena pledging to raise the issue in Parliament on Monday; from PILs being filed based on the evidence put out by Team Bharat to the investigation becoming the center-focus at the ongoing Kumbh with Baba Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar joining the chorus for a reinvestigation into the truth about the Karsevak Massacre.
On day 2 of Republic Bharat beaming across the country, during which the channel had fresh and new exclusives that set the agenda on this story and others, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in an exclusive conversation with Arnab Goswami assured a probe based on the evidence put out by the channel.
Not just in terms of setting the agenda on ground, the Republic Bharat launch investigation report became the country’s top talking point on social media.
With families of missing karsevaks and political parties promising to take up the fight for justice in the wake of new evidence put out by Republic Bharat, the channel’s launch story has left an indelible mark on viewers and is pegged to whip up a political storm in the coming days.
After marathon coverage of the developments in Kolkata on the Mamata Banerjee story, Republic Bharat once again set the agenda in terms of content with an exclusive Sting Operation on a former TMC Member of Parliament who was arrested in the Saradha Scam.
While Mamata Banerjee sat on her protest in Kolkata, the Republic Bharat team broke its sting at 6pm on its third day of broadcasting. Union Minister SmritiIrani, MoS PMO Jitendra Singh and UP Minister Siddharthnath Singh were among the first to react to the sting operation by Republic Bharat.
After an evening breaking of the exclusive sting, the hashtag garnered 44 Million impressions in 13 States across the country. #SaradhaSting managed to create a massive impact on Twitter. With maximum mentions from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, NCR, Rajasthan, and West Bengal.
With its diversity of exclusive content in its first 3 days, a precision in terms of production and design, and an impressive scale of coverage from across the country, and with an astronomical 500 Million Impressions on social media, Republic Bharat has shaken up the Hindi news television market in its launch week.
