Republic Media Network, the media house owned by journalist Arnab Goswami, is set to make a significant entry into the Karnataka media landscape. Recent reports indicate that the Republic Media Network has successfully acquired Dighvijay 24×7, a Kannada news channel previously owned by Vijay Sankeshwar. However, the network has not yet officially confirmed this development.
This strategic move marks Republic Media Network's third foray into the regional news channel space. According to sources, the newly acquired channel is slated for launch on October 25, 2023.
Arnab Goswami had resigned as the editor-in-chief of Times Now in 2016, citing editorial differences. Following his departure, he announced his next ambitious venture, initially named Republic and later modified to Republic TV. Republic Bharat, a Hindi language news channel was launched on February 2, 2019, timing coinciding with India's General Elections in 2019. Republic TV launched Republic Bangla, a Bengali language news channel, on March 7, 2021.
Arnab, who is widely perceived as a journalist-anchor inclined towards the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, was arrested in 2020 by the Mumbai police in a 2018 case pertaining to suicide of an interior designer Anvay Naik.
In the same year, several FIRs were filed against the news anchor in Maharashtra, Telangana, Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh over the comments he made against Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on his show about the Palghar lynching incident, where two Hindu seers and their driver were beaten to death.
In his show, Arnab Goswami made communal remarks and questioned Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's silence on the incident and speculated about her reaction if the victims had not been Hindu but Christian. He also made statements suggesting that Sonia Gandhi might find satisfaction in "Hindu sants being killed in a state ruled by the Congress." These comments garnered widespread criticism, leading to the filing of at least 16 complaints against Goswami.