'He's using rage to get rage out of other people:' No one can stop talking about Arnab Goswami
'If too many people are talking, he knows how to shut them up.'
He's long been grist to the TV comedy mill. And it's a true measure of Times Now editor Arnab Goswami's success that an entire industry of video content has sprung up around him.
In this video, which is part of a comedy routine, people from the city of Mumbai are asked what they think of him. And behind the laughing outrage, there's clearly grudging admiration at getting a job done. With almost 100 per cent recognition among the segment comprising articulate English-speaking persons on the street, it isn't difficult to see why Goswami, his show, and his channel are miles ahead of the competition (small though the pie is).
The Newshour not only attracts more viewers than any other 9 pm show, it also commands extraordinarily high advertising rates – Rs 16,000 for a ten-second spot). The show single-handedly draws 40 percent of the channel’s overall viewers, and a fifth of its annual revenue. No wonder it takes up more than half its editorial resources as well.
As for his methods, well, here's what Star India Uday Shankar said, “I admire Arnab... His is not a news bulletin. It is his take on news and as long as he provokes me to think, he plays an important role in public discourse."