Republic Media Network makes parts of BARC's email public; "Highly disappointed" says BARC India

On October 18 (yesterday), Republic Media Network issued a media statement. The press release stated that the network has received an email from the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India where the television viewership auditor has "clearly mentioned" that there is "not a single complaint or malpractice found against Republic TV, Republic Bharat or any other affiliate channels."

The press statement issued by Republic Media Network claims that BARC India in its email to Republic Media Network's Group CEO Vikas Khanchandani "specifically confirmed" that there is no malpractice by the network. "In the interest of making the truth public before the people of India, here are the facts of the latest piece of evidence Republic has put out," states the press statement. Following which the statement goes on to quote the email that Khanchandani received from BARC India.

Here is what Republic attributed to BARC India, "If there was any disciplinary action initiated under the said Code against M/s ARG Outlier Media Private Ltd., then BARC India would have communicated the same to you along with necessary documents for your response."

The media network, which runs one of the three channels hauled up by the commissioner of Mumbai Police a few days back, uses the email as a piece of evidence to establish its innocence. "With this documentary evidence by BARC out In the public domain, it is proven that the Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh's comments against Republic TV were blatantly false, lies, and an extension of political vendetta. It is now incumbent on him to apologise for his lie-ridden campaign against India's Number 1 news network," states the press statement released by Republic Media Network.

BARC India, after Republic Media Network, made parts of the email public has issued a statement sharing it is "highly disappointed" with the News network. "BARC India has not commented on the ongoing investigation and it is providing necessary assistance to the law enforcement agency," the statement shared by BARC India reads.

It adds, "BARC India is highly disappointed with the actions of the Republic Network by disclosing private and confidential communications and misrepresenting the same. BARC India reiterates that it has not commented on the ongoing investigation and without prejudice to BARC India's rights, it expresses its dismay at the actions of the Republic Network."

BARC India has already paused the publication of weekly ratings for the "News Genre". On October 15, it issued a statement which read, "In the light of the recent developments, BARC Board has proposed that it’s Technical Committee (Tech Comm) review and augment the current standards of measuring and reporting the data of niche genres, to improve their statistical robustness and to significantly hamper the potential attempts of infiltrating the panel homes. This exercise would cover all Hindi, Regional, English News and Business News channels with immediate effect."

It added, "Therefore, starting with the ‘News Genre’, BARC will cease publishing the weekly individual ratings for all news channels during the exercise. This exercise is expected to take around 8-12 weeks including validation and testing under the supervision of BARCs Tech Comm."

How Republic Media Network responds to BARC India's statement sharing its disappointment, remains to be seen.