BloombergQuint and Republic: A tale of two news companies
Much talked about but not as well understood, the media business is a microcosm of the complex country that is India
18 November, 2019•12 min
0
18 November, 2019•12 min
0
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
Why read this story?
Editor's note: In April 2016, Bloomberg Media and Quintillion Media got together with the ambition of launching a business news television channel in India, built on the foundation of a digital media newsroom. In November that year, Republic TV was announced. Within weeks of its application to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Republic (run by ARG Outlier Media Asianet News Pvt. Ltd) got the go-ahead for a TV channel. The partnership of popular news anchor Arnab Ranjan Goswami (ARG) and politician Rajeev Chandrashekhar, eventually launched in May 2017 and found an audience easier than how Jesus found his disciples. BloombergQuint, on the other hand, never made it to television screens. It wasn’t for the lack of trying. Like Republic, BQ too had filed its application with the ministry. And after a year or so of trying, it even tried to take a shortcut by acquiring a licence from another company. Didn’t work. Just a couple of years old now, Republic is doing well. In the year ended 31 March 2019, the company recorded revenue of Rs 200 crore ($27.9 million), up …
More in Business
Business
Can Adani pull off the 100% green AI promise?
The group’s $100 billion data centre push rests on solving clean energy’s toughest constraint: consistent, real-time renewable supply at scale.
You may also like
Internet
Children and social media bans
Countries across the world are coming to the consensus that children aged under 15 must not have access to social media. India, which has over 300 million children under 15 and among the cheapest data tariffs, needs to have this conversation sooner rather than later.
Internet
Sridhar Vembu’s Arattai, India’s yearning for swadeshi and network effects
The Zoho co-founder’s attempt to build a WhatsApp competitor has captured the imagination of the nationalist Indian. Emotions aside, the most likely outcome is that Zoho’s other products will start selling more.
Internet
Nayara Energy, Microsoft and tech sovereignty
Indians who are among the world’s largest consumers of free tech products and also significant beneficiaries of free markets suffer from a poor understanding of both technology and accountability. Separately, Aamir Khan breaks a paradigm with a YouTube release.