After almost six months of anticipation, Arnab Goswami's new channel Republic TV went on air at 10 am on 6 May.
And on its very first day, stalwarts of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) put their weight behind the channel's first news break – which also happened to be a 'super exclusive'.
The story was an audio recording of an alleged conversation between RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and criminal-turned-politician Mohammad Shahabuddin. Following this, the bigwigs of the BJP – the likes of Venkaiah Naidu and Sushil Kumar Modi – came out in support of the channel, congratulating them on their 'expose' and wishing Arnab luck in his new venture.
Republic TV's test broadcast had started a couple of days ago, with the red and yellow branding making it look very different from Arnab's previous employer – Times Now. Two months after he quit the channel, Arnab announced that he would be starting an independent venture – Republic TV. At the time of announcement, there was no clear indication of who was funding his "independent" media venture.
Republic TV, in every hoarding, has mentioned "we are your voice". But who is funding them to be "our voice?" Read on.
Main Man, an NDA Man
The Indian Express first reported that Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a Rajya Sabha MP, is one of the largest investors and a director in the journalist's media venture.
Republic TV is part of a media venture called the ARG Outlier Media Private Limited, whose managing director is the journalist himself. However, Chandrasekhar is one of the largest investors.
It is to be noted that Chandrasekhar, who also owns Asianet News Online Private Limited, is the vice-chairman of NDA in Kerala since September 2016. He was first appointed as a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka in 2006 and has been a member ever since.
No newbie to media investments, Chandrasekhar has major holdings in Asianet News Network, Suvarna News and the Kannada newspaper Prabha.
Chandrasekhar, who is also the chairman of Jupiter Capital, has major investments in the defence sector, with the contract with the Defence Ministry to supply Aircraft Recognition Training Systems to the Army and the IAF – a multi-year contract signed in March last year – being the most notable.
Arnab’s Own SARG
Apart from Chandrasekhar, the Indian Express reported that SARG Media Holding Private Limited, in which Goswami and his wife Samyabrata Ray Goswami are the major stakeholders, is also an investor.
SARG, however, has 14 other individuals and companies apart from the couple. As on 24 November, data with the Registrar of Companies revealed that SARG had invested Rs 26 crore in Republic's parent company ARG Outlier.
Breaking Down SARG Investments
The largest investors in SARG are Ranjan Ramdas Pai and Mohandas Pai, who have invested Rs 7.5 crore. The duo co-founded Aarin Capital Partners.
Ramakanta Panda, owner of Asian Heart Institute in Mumbai, invested Rs 5 crore. R Naresh and Shobhana Ramachandhran of TVS Tyres, and Niranjan Shah, owner of Renaissance Jewellery in Mumbai and SRF Transnational Holdings, have invested Rs 2.5 crore each.
Sameer Manchanda , who was instrumental in the launch of CNN-IBN in 2005, has also invested Rs 2.5 crore in SARG.
(With inputs from The Indian Express )
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