Arnab's new channel to be called Republic

The channel will launch sometime in April,” added the source.

During the announced of his new venture ‘Republic’, Goswami expressed firm belief in the co-existence of television and digital. Meanwhile, speaking on day two of FICCI Frames, according to him, TV, and digital are collaborators, not competitors.

The digital platform Republic World and television news channel Republic TV will be launched together somewhere in April 2017.

There is no formal announcement from the channel’s end yet; however, we can expect an official announcement in about a week!

Dhruv Ghanekar produces music for Arnab Goswami's Republic TV | Radioandmusic.com
 
Most Likely Republic will launch in the second half of April

No date fixed. Channel will go on air when Arnab feels the product is perfect
 
Decoding the fuss over Arnab Goswami's Republic TV

It will need to be if it is to make a dent in the Rs 3,500-crore, hyper-competitive Indian news broadcasting market. Republic TV, being launched by ARG Outlier Media sometime over the next four-five weeks, will join over 390-odd news channels broadcasting in India, the world’s most overserved news market. The digital brand, Republic World (website and mobile app), will be launched concurrently, says Chief Executive Officer Vikas Khanchandani. To start with, the free-to-air channel will target India’s 180 million TV homes. There are, however, plans to take it across the world — to the West Asia, the UK and the US, among other countries. The company has already hired 300 people, of whom 215 are on board. A state-of-the-art-studio is being built in Mumbai’s Lower Parel area.

According to the estimates, the company has raised Rs 150-200 crore from a bunch of big and small investors (Goswami retains majority control, according to company sources). A senior news broadcasting person estimates Republic TV’s capital cost at Rs 50-75 crore and operating costs in the first year at Rs 50-60 crore.

Analysts reckon that Republic TV has to hit the top spot in the shortest possible time if it has to make a dent in the ad market and break even. Typically, the top two channels in a genre make money; the number three just about survives. This then raises three questions about Republic TV’s ability to crack the Indian news broadcasting market.

One is distribution.“If Republic TV gets its distribution right, it has every chance of becoming number one,” says the head of a TV research firm. It costs anywhere between Rs 25-35 crore a year to get cable companies to carry a channel across India. DD’s Freedish, India’s largest DTH service, charges a minimum price of Rs 4.3 crore to carry a news channel. Each of the private DTH operators charges Rs 3.5 crore. Add it all up and “there is no way their carriage fee will be less than Rs 30-40 crore,” says the former CEO of a news broadcasting firm. Those costs dampen most networks, which have several channels and, therefore, better negotiating power. For a standalone channel, they can be killing. Khanchandani refuses to share details on which operators have signed on. All he says is that the firm is in talks with everybody. “If we had a network, distribution would have been easier but it is not impossible because there is a big void in the market,” he says.

Decoding the fuss over Arnab Goswami's Republic TV | Business Standard News
 
Is it coming in April?
I don't think so... No news regarding launch yet..
 
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