If the Times Group has accused Republic TV and its founder of theft, Arnab Goswami has got his revenge by way of what the BARC ratings show for Republic's first week. In a target group of males aged 22+ it has double the viewership of Times Now (51.9 per cent to TN's 24.6 per cent.) But is this genuine viewership? The News Broadcasters Association has alleged "dual LCN" malpractice in the way the new channel is appearing in more then one genre on distribution platforms. It had urged BARC not to release the first week's data until this was stopped but BARC has gone ahead and done so.