 So it's been around 20 months since you launched Republic TV, and we have seen a tremendous response at it. It has got in terms of the numbers and how the popularity of the channel. So how would you define the success Republic has seen and the journey so far if you have to explain? So I think it's unparalleled success. We are now closing in on 100 weeks of being number one. And I think that makes us one of the most successful brands in the media right now and certainly in television. And the big issue always has been of not just performance but consistent performance. And I think what Republic has proven that we can deliver a very strong consistent performance. There's one more metric that I want to share with you that when you look at the genre, I think the greatest contribution of Republic TV is that it has expanded the genre. So if you were at sort of 39, then you go to 63 and then 61 million in terms of total reach of the English genre. So what Republic has done is that it has increased the size and reach of the English genre by about 73%. So compared to before launch and now if you were to take first May 2017 and say January 31st 2019, this is 70% plus expansion of the genre. So I think that is the greatest contribution of any new entrant. So it's been a very, very successful journey and very positive response for everybody. Right. So one of your earlier interview you had said that anybody, I'm just quoting you exact words, in our industry who does things based on political highs and lows is playing a very short term game. And then now you're launching Republic Bharat just close to general elections, you know. Just want to understand the context of launching the channel at this time. I completely stand by what I said earlier. The launch of Republic Bharat is following what we are closing in on 18 to 20 months as you said of leadership of Republic TV. Any team that launches a new channel needs a time to re galvanize itself before launching a big product. Hindi is not a small market, it's a very, very large market and hence I needed this time to sort of get my focus back on building a new product. The Republic Bharat is not launched with an eye on the elections. Elections happen to be happening at this point of time. The levels of investment that we have made in technology, in people, in processes and in the scale of our operations ensures that this is not an election specific channel. I don't do these fly by night operator things that you launch a channel before the election. You know, you close it down after the elections. Other people do that. I launch brands because I build legacy and we are building a legacy of Republic TV and hence it's great that the elections are happening. But would we not launch the channel if there was no election? Absolutely not. We would still go ahead and launch the channel. And I think in any case I'm going to launch in a few days. There is no election happening for quite a few months. So we've seen the new promo and I mean it was wonderful of course, but how has the response been to that so far? Also, how is our Bharat going to be different from the rest of the news channels that are in the genre? Could you kind of highlight those three, four differential factors that will put it differently, you know, from the restaurant? I think the biggest factor in the launch of Republic Bharat is the fact that we are going to be doing news. Now, ask anybody what they think about Hindi news channels today. They will say that they don't think that they are giving them the news. None of the Hindi news channels today have broken a single story in over 10 years. I can ask any of the readers of this or the viewers of this particular interview and ask them what was the last big exclusive story that you saw being broken and followed up by any Hindi news channel. Can you remember one? You can't. And none of the people can because Hindi news channels forgot to give news to the Hindi audience. And hence all the big stories were broken by my team and a few other teams. But certainly not by any Hindi news channel from CWG, 2G, Aircel Maxis, Nirbhaya. And then you go on to look at the corruption scabs, the Anna Hazare agitation, Lalit Githgate. Or even if you look at more recently the stories over the last few months, you would not find a single story that has been broken by any Hindi news channel. I don't want to name other channels, but they must also consider why Republic Bharat is launching. Republic Bharat is launching to disrupt this space which is supposed to be a news journal but which has not been loyal to news for over 10 years. We are bringing news back in the Hindi news journal. That is our sustained effort and that is the core of this entire effort of launching the Republic Bharat. So whenever you start a new venture, people look up to that. They expect an overnight success. That has been the image with the launches that you have done. The products you have been associated with, brands you have been associated with. Is this somewhere also adding to the stress that news as a journal already gives you on a day in and day out? Does the launch of our Bharat give you sleepless nights these days? I am very excited about every launch. My clock moves from launch to launch. It is a process of re-invention. It is a process of re-creation. But most importantly, I enter every genre not with a predisposed mind. I never assume when I launch a product that I know it all. I don't know it all. But I am a quick learner. And most importantly, I am gifted and blessed to have an excellent team. The team of Republic TV today, both in the technology and production side, and of course in the editorial side, are the finest in the business. We are without doubt the home to the best content creation capability that any network has in India today. Does that make the job of launching the channel easier? It doesn't. But does it make it more exciting? It does. So when you have a great team which enters into a launch saying, let us open up with a blank page and try to understand what we can do there, then you end up painting a more beautiful picture. So I have not entered the Hindi news genre by assuming that I know everything. But I am a quick learner. My teams are quick learners. I am 100% sure that we will change and disrupt the Hindi news channel business in a way that has not been done before. Right, right, right. Tell me about your view. I mean, how important are ratings for you? I mean, your view on this. How important do you think ratings are for the channel? For you personally? You are a man with numbers, statistics, and you look closely at numbers. How important are ratings for you? They are very important because they tell you about how viewers are responding to you. The ratings are important also because if you look at the ratings in a granular manner, you might get some feedback on your programming. Now, see, we are editorial people. We are not guided entirely by the numbers. But we cannot at the same time disrespect the numbers. So it's always a balance between studying the numbers and studying your content. If I have a great story tomorrow, but if one week after airing the story, I find it hasn't got the ratings, but it served a larger good, I will still do the story. But I also think that if you are relevant, then you will get good ratings. So I am not among those people who say ratings don't matter at all. They matter. They matter. They sustain our business. And I think those who do ratings also do a fairly good job of taking a sample and then projecting it at a national level. So I am all for ratings and I certainly would say the ratings matter quite a bit. Right. And then a lot of people also say that new channels have built their brands and reputation on the back of high-tech sensationalism. How do you respond to such a thing? It's a very cliched, old argument because the fact is that today's day and age, the pace of news is different from ten years back. If I produce the news at the pace of 2019, but if somebody likes it at the pace of 1999, should I change my product to suit that pace? No. If that individual says this is too pacey, too sensational, it's the way things are done nowadays. News breaks faster, our connectivity is better, infrastructure is better, our confidence levels are better, and news gathering ability, ability to penetrate and disseminate news is quicker than it was in 1999. That is not to say that what happened in 1999 is bad. It's just that you have to move with the times. The other question is about sensationalism. I am a firm believer that in India today you have to shout to be heard. If you don't shout on big issues, you will not be heard. And if you're not heard, there will be no impact. Then why am I in this business at all? Why am I wasting my time and wasting everyone's time? Why do I have to be in journalism? My stories have no impact. And do you think my stories will have impact if I don't play them up? So is playing up a story a bad thing? It's a good thing. I do what is essential in the pursuit of my role as both a news hound as well as someone who wants to disseminate the news to the largest possible audience. So I don't believe in going very subtle about it. That's okay. I don't think we are sensational. We brought in big changes in this country. We fought battles against corruption. We fought for the oppressed, the weak for women's rights. All these things don't happen if you're going to be very soft and subtle about it. So in my conversation with some of the people, they have said that there has been a big shift in news genre in English, I am saying. After 2006, 2007, that's when you came from the scene. People do accept. They didn't name it but they said that that was the period when the shift happened. Now we have seen people modeling their strategies and news look and the program flow based on maybe how you took it ahead. That's one of the things. But at the same time, news became a very polarized thing also. The debates became too intense and also we saw this shift across channels. Would you agree that you have bought a style to it which has been more aggressive, polarized? Whatever people call it, I'm not saying it is how people see it. How do you see when people talk about it? That news has become more surreal and intense. What you are basically telling me is that people have opinions of what you do. And some people like it, some people dislike it, some people criticize it. But from your own expression of this question, you would admit that people are questioning the form, not the context. So they are saying, oh, it's too loud. It may not work for me. Fine. But are they saying it's dishonest? It's malafide. They wouldn't say so. So there is no question of the integrity of our journalism. Some people like to have a Mexican dish. Some people like to have an Indian dish. Some people like to have a little tikka in their dish. Some people like it a little bland. That's a matter of individual's taste. But there's no poison in the dish. I think it's worse if there's poison in the dish. Whatever we serve as news to the audiences is completely pure in terms of the integrity of the news. So I think changes will come. I don't think in 2029 you will have news done the same way as 2019. But that's part of the whole process of evolution. So again, I have read many interviews and you have spoken at many of the forums that fence sitters and so-called neutral journalists, you know. You have spoken that you really can't be neutral and opinions are part of your news. But just to draw a parallel to the game of cricket, for example, in the close to your heart, I think, the umpire does not go and play. He just conducts the game. And so how do we kind of try to understand that argument of fence sitters and neutrals not being, you know, really relevant in today's news game? So, you know, even cricket has changed over the years from test to purists to one day and now T20. And I don't know what new formats will come up in the future. So cricket is not stagnant. The forms in which cricket is played are not stagnant. They have changed with the times, they've changed with the attention spans of the audiences and the likes and dislikes of the young generation. That's not to say that, you know, there will still be some people who will say that T20 is unacceptable and that only test cricket is pure. I don't think so. Either do you. So I think that it's wrong to say, you know, that one style is good or bad. I think we should be game changers. And I think that when we enter into any genre of content, we should start with the feeling that it's a green-free territory. Just because somebody has done a news show in a certain format, is that the only show to be done? No. If I anchor in a certain style, is that the only way it should be done? Absolutely not. I think every anchor should unleash himself or self in the same way. Also, you know, if you would notice, I do not pass observations on how other people anchor the news. People pass comments on mine. What that means is that more people watch us. Hence, I don't think the integrity of the news is ever under question. So I think we'll bring in a new normal when it comes to Hindi news as well. I've been watching Hindi news very, very closely. Let me tell you, it is right to be disrupted. I don't want to disrespect any of the existing Hindi news channels. But having watched them very closely, they know and I know and the audience knows that what they are doing today is exactly what they did in 2004. They should ask themselves why they have been unable to change or bring in new formats. Unless you bring in new formats, you're not going to expand the audience. The audience will expand only when you bring in new formats which are more engaging, more vibrant and more stimulating. That's what we hope to do with Bharat. So I think our engaging style of presentation on Republic TV will now mutate into a Hindi form. So some people have also said that the Republic showcases a certain political stand. You have spoken about it before, but just want to understand, right from you, right now, again, how do you, I mean, do you, does it bother you when people say this? No, no. If people would not watch me, they would not say anything. So I think it's a reflection of the growing audiences that we are bringing together. Let me also add earlier that I think if people were to ask me what is our greatest contribution of Republic TV is that we are now reaching approximately 150 to 200 million television homes in the country after the launch of Bharat. That for me is the most satisfying part of the journey. Our ideology is that of nationalism. We believe that patriotism, nationalism, symbols of national honour and the concept of pride in the nation should be the guiding principles for the entire country. I believe you cannot have enough of nationalism. So when people talk about too much nationalism, I would take them on and question them day in and day out. I feel we need to be unapologetic about being Indian. We are the most vibrant democracy, the most vibrant society and with a great future ahead. Why should we not instill a sense of great pride in our younger generation? We're also the youngest population with the most number of hundreds of millions of people under the age of 35. Why should young Indians not feel genuinely proud of not just where we have reached the difficult journey we've been through but the great journey ahead? And what is media if it is not prejudiced for the nation? My prejudice is for the nation, not for an individual and certainly not for a party. Sometimes some people might think that nationalism is associated with a party but they are wrong. Nationalism is in the soul of every Indian and that is the audience essentially that I hope to reach. So you just told me that to be heard sometimes you need to shout. Also this partly explains what's wrong with the news business side because we don't have subscription revenues and ad revenues. But once the model on the business side changes for example tomorrow we have more subscribers than ad revenues. Do you think this concept of the news and how we see it now will also transform how we see it? I think that with the changes in technology, dissemination systems and measurement you might move towards a subscription based model as I primarily now entirely advertising run and it would be welcome if subscription revenue increases because the costs of creating news are only rising and sometimes our costs of coverage are greater than the costs of creation of the content. Having said that, I'm a content creator, a journalist. I'm most simple in my approach to things. If people like what we do, they will support us. You can't say that people will start supporting you if they start paying for you. That's a limited way of looking at it. I feel if people like you, they will watch you whether you are free to wear or you are paid. And if people like you and they believe in you and if they connect with you, most important is the connect. Then they will find you. So that also means the discovery of content actually comes in on its own. So I think both channel discovery, content discovery and content creation have to essentially have a very close organic link with the audience. The moment you connect with the audience, everything becomes easy. You don't connect with the audience and then you blame the current trends in the industry. Like I find some people sometimes, some people say that the problem is not with us. The problem is that now it's an advertising business model. I don't understand that. If you do well, if people like you, they're going to watch you, they watch you, you're going to have good viewership. If you have good viewership, you'll get advertising. So instead of blaming why it's an advertising based model, why don't you ask? Why don't you first have the viewership? First get the viewership. If you have the viewership, then people, if it is a pay model, people will pay for the content. If it's an advertising based model, it will drive more advertising. What are we cribbing about? I'm blessed that we have such beautiful support from people in the industry. So many of our distribution partners and everyone, essentially when I go to people and I've been travelling a bit around the country. You know, we got support because people like what we do. That's it. So the core is again the content. So in your view, if you have to look at the news genre of television news, is there a need for any kind of course correction? Is there anything wrong that can be corrected the way it is right now? No, I don't want to be a critic of the genre that I belong to. I would say that the one course correction that we can do is that we can stop obsessing about ourselves. I've lost a lot of journalists who have gone and left the profession and now from different channels I meet them and say, what do you do? They say we write about the media. And while, you know, for example, you are in a magazine and you're writing in trade. But the sum and substance of those who are not in the trade space, you know, exchange for media is different and impact is different. That's media on the trade, media on media. But those who are not on media or media should focus on stories about the people. We cannot be an insular business. And I'm a little disturbed and worried sometimes that journalists spend too much time commenting on other journalists and taking positions, visa be journalists, who's pro congress, who's pro BJP, who's pro app. Why don't you just do your job? So I think that the only course correction I would say is that good people in journalism should start reporting on the people not on fellow journalists. That sometimes can lead to too much attention away from the core issues. And we are a country where we can do so much, we can bring real change. If we put back our resources into what matters, which is reporting and producing. So I hope that change happens. When you see social media, especially Twitter, and you see a lot of conversation on Twitter becoming discourses on television. Is that also an indication where the future of television is going and how are you trying to come to terms with this? Actually I would say that it's a reflection of how many people are watching television. Conversations on Twitter are almost entirely guided by television. And the people who talk the most about television then deny being followers of television and claim to be only digital. But the subjects they talk about are all on television. You take republic away and you will have a 50% drop in social media traffic on news. What this means is that people are following news. News on television is the principal driver of conversations in India. I can say it with confidence because we trend every night. And that is an indicator of the fact that television is a very powerful media in this country. It's a growing media. People are reaching it in different ways. We have a huge traction on republic world. The technology team in Bangalore that tells me the kind of video views that we got during an election. 40-50 million was almost as high as our TV viewership on that particular day. So people are consuming TV a whole lot more today than they did earlier on multiple devices. And so social media traction on Twitter to a great extent being guided by television is not an indication of the fact that Twitter is growing and television is less. It shows that television is leading for both Facebook, Twitter and all social media giants. They're basically surviving on the push that content creators like us get. So how do you feel when you're called the disruptor of news? As I told you, people said there's an era before 11, 6 and 7 and now... Well, I feel very humbled and I feel very blessed that people call me a disruptor on TV. I can say that the real disruption will come many years from now. All that I'm doing through my efforts is that I'm trying to bring in a new wave of television to make it more and more evident. See, TV will grow in a big way for the next 20 to 25 years I think. It's going to be growing year on year on year. And what we are simply doing at Republic is consolidating that growth. If we expand in a genre by 70% since the launch of the Republic TV, it tells you that our role is to expand the audience. And if I can create relevant content and reach a deeper audience, I think it's truly blessed. And it's the grace of the Lord Almighty and of all our followers and people who believe in India that is making us do it. So I think it's not me, I'm simply an agent for a medium at this point of time through which the change is happening. Three more questions. What happens when news channels become identified with the person and the person becomes sometimes bigger than the brand? How do you kind of look at that where the two are difficult to... You see, now you know this is the Republic TV and R. You see this logo, you go among people today and I can confidently tell you, if you ask people the symbols of various big brands, you show them the Nike brand without the tagline, you show them a name another brand which has an insignia but not the name embossed on it. Puma, Nike, or you take any FMCG brand and you take R. The recognizability of our brand is huge. I can say with confidence more people recognize R. today than they would recognize on the postman. With the launch of Bharat, as we penetrate a deeper market, R. becomes the biggest news brand in India with a strong hold over the English and in the audience. So I think that challenge for me as an entrepreneur which I began with my journey when I started in early 2017, I think I gave myself three years to make our brand bigger than any brand association with me. I think in two years I have been able to make Republic and R. And now the Republic Media Network, the brand, bigger than R. And that is something that I will be working on more and more. Three questions you would like to pose to your competitors? Now I would pose some questions to, I have great respect for my competitors. One is that, can we bring back news which has been forgotten and I would say undermined into the Hindi news genre? Can we work together towards doing that? Secondly, when you may have your differences, can all channels in the news genre stop questioning the country? What is the next thing that you are looking at? I don't think I have really done what I think I will enjoy doing the most. And that will be the launch of a global media product. And I am a firm believer that we cannot live in our self-contained chambers of success. Once we launch Mahath, then I will start building in two areas, which is digital, technology businesses, the entire span of media technology businesses and global operations. I believe we can create and curate content. And I know that the global market also knows that people like us entering the global market will sort of open it up. And I have observed the global players from a distance. I hope to watch them more closely and disrupt that space within the next year or two. How I will do it, I don't know but my eyes are firmly set on that. So that I hope to get more time to be able to focus on that. So it will be an exciting road ahead. I think eventually I will be in the next four or five years setting pace to a new number of things which I am going to do, which eventually someone in the next generation will take it to a higher level. So we are only agents of making that change happen in the course of our careers. Exciting time and I think we are going to roll and steamroll ahead. One more thing I want to say, Rohan, is that I want to thank all the people who helped me build Republic Paratha and Republic TV and the network. We have about 750 people working with us now and each one of them has contributed a great deal to this. But particularly to the media industry. For a person like me to come out and do this would not be possible without the genuine support of the industry. And my friends and colleagues in every aspect of the industry have stood by me too. Just a little thank you note to endless. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.