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The Times Group

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Bennett Coleman and Company Ltd
Company typePrivate
IndustryMass media
Founded4 November 1838 (186 years ago) (1838-11-04)
HeadquartersMumbai, Maharashtra, India
Key people
Products
RevenueIncrease ₹73.94 billion (US$890 million) (2022)[1]
Increase ₹4.57 billion (US$55 million) (2022)[1]
OwnerSahu Jain family
Number of employees
11,100 (2014)[2]
Subsidiaries
Websitebccl.in Edit this at Wikidata

Bennett Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL), d/b/a The Times Group, is an Indian media conglomerate based in Mumbai.[3] Notable media properties owned and operated by the group include India's largest selling daily English-language newspaper The Times of India, television channels such as Times Now, the radio station network Radio Mirchi, and magazines Filmfare and Femina.[4][5]

The Sahu Jain family owns a majority of the stake in the group. In May 2023, the Times Group was split into two separate business entities between brothers Vineet Jain and Samir Jain, such that its radio and broadcast properties would remain with Vineet Jain and its print properties would be under the ownership of Samir Jain.[6][7]

History

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The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce was first published on 3 November 1838 as a predecessor to what would become The Times of India.[8][9][10] While starting as a biweekly paper, it was converted to a daily in 1850. In 1859 the paper was merged with two other papers into the Bombay Times and Standard under editor Robert Knight.[10][11] Two years later, in 1861, the paper got a more national scope with the title The Times of India. Subsequently the paper saw its ownership change several times until 1892 when an English journalist named Thomas Jewell Bennett along with Frank Morris Coleman (who later drowned in the 1915 sinking of the SS Persia) acquired the newspaper through their new joint stock company, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. (BCCL).[10][11] At the time, some 800 people were employed by the paper.

The company, by that time consolidated in the Times of India Group, was taken over from its British owners in 1946 by industrialist Ramkrishna Dalmia.[12][13]

Ramkrishna Dalmia (7 April 1893 – 26 September 1978) was a pioneer industrialist and founder of the Dalmia-Jain group or Dalmia Group and The Times Group. The name is variously written as Ram Krishan Dalmia and Ram Kishan Dalmia. In 1947, Dalmia engineered the acquisition of the media giant Bennett, Coleman by transferring monies from a bank and an insurance company of which he was the Chairman. In 1955, this came to the attention of the socialist parliamentarian Feroze Gandhi who was part of the ruling Congress party headed by his estranged father-in-law Jawaharlal Nehru. In December 1955, he raised the matter in the Parliament, documenting extensively the various fund transfers and intermediaries through which the acquisition had been financed. The case was investigated by the Vivian Bose Commission of Inquiry.

In the court case that followed, where he was represented by the leading British attorney Sir Dingle Mackintosh Foot, he was sentenced to two years in Tihar Jail. But for most of the jail term he managed to spend in hospital. During this period the company was run by his son-in-law Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain.

Upon his release his son-in-law Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain to whom he had entrusted running of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. rebuffed his efforts to resume command of the company.[14] Jain would buy the company a few years later and the company would be primarily run by his family in the years after.[13][15] The company expanded its presence in the Indian media sphere by founding different papers and local editions of The Times of India.[11]

Decline and revival

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The Times of India 1988 stamp of India

The Times of India press published a number of influential English (e.g. Illustrated Weekly of India 1880-1993) and Hindi magazines (e.g. Dharmyug 1949-1997, Sarika, Dinaman 1965-1990s, Parag 1958-1990s), edited by distinguished authors including Khushwant Singh, Dharmveer Bharti, Agyeya and Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena. However, the organisation faced financial difficulties, and most of them were closed down during the 1990s.

The sons of Sahu Ashok Jain, Sahu Samir Jain and Vineet Jain are credited with reviving the financial success of the group with newer and more profitable ventures.[16][17]

Assets

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Publications

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Television channels

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The Times Group owns the following channels.[20]

Channel Language Category SD/HD availability Notes
Movies Now English Movies SD+HD
MNX Formerly Movies Now 2
Romedy Now SD
MN+ HD
Times Now News SD
Times Now World HD Formerly Times Now HD
Mirror Now SD+HD Replaced Magicbricks Now
ET Now Business News SD
Times Now Navbharat[21] Hindi News SD+HD
ET Now Swadesh[22] Business News SD
Zoom Hindi Music SD

Defunct channels

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Channel Language Category Defuncted SD/HD availability Notes
1Sports English Sports 2023 SD

Times Business Solutions Limited

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TBS
Company typeBusiness Service
Founded2004
180,000,000 Canadian dollar (2016) Edit this on Wikidata
Number of employees
11,002 (2014) Edit this on Wikidata
ParentTimes Internet
Websitehttp://www.tbsl.in/

Times Business Solutions – A division of Times Internet Limited is a limited company, wholly owned by Bennett Coleman Company Limited (The Times Group). TBS develops web sites within areas such as recruitment, real estate and matrimonials such as SimplyMarry.com.[23]

TBS started as a division of BCCL in 2004 to create an exchange for job seekers and employers on the internet. With the growth of internet attaining rapid speed and being a highly profitable venture, Times Business Solutions – A division of Times Internet Limited was born as the "Internet Initiatives" of BCCL. Times Group, others put $20 million into Square Yards[24] in September 2019.

Times Internet

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Main article: Times Internet

Times Internet is an Indian company which owns, operates and invests in various Internet-led products, services and technology.

Radio Mirchi

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Main article: Radio Mirchi

Radio Mirchi is a nationwide network of private FM radio stations in India.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Saini, Sonam (21 November 2019). "BCCL's FY21 consolidated revenue at Rs 5,337.94 crore". exchange4media.com. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Times Group may go for an IPO 'in the long run'". Business Standard. 8 November 2021. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b James Crabtree, Mumbai (23 March 2015). "Uber in tie-up with Times of India digital arm". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 25 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  4. ^ "Bennett Coleman and Company Limited". CRISIL. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  5. ^ "Sebi rectifies penalty on Samir Jain, wife and others in PNB Finance case". Business Standard. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  6. ^ Times Group split: Samir Jain takes print; Vineet gets broadcast, radio biz Archived 19 July 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Financial Express. 21 May 2023.
  7. ^ Reed, John (23 May 2023). "The battle for succession". Financial Times. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  8. ^ The Bombay times and journal of commerce, 1838–1859. National Library of Australia. 1838. Archived from the original on 5 January 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  9. ^ "Bombay Times – Times of India ►". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 2 December 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  10. ^ a b c "The Times of India". www.firstversions.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  11. ^ a b c "3rd November 1838: The Times of India, the newspaper, was founded". www.mapsofindia.com. 3 November 2013. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  12. ^ Rajan, Nalini (9 August 2005). Practising Journalism: Values, Constraints, Implications. SAGE Publications India. ISBN 9788132102618.
  13. ^ a b Kasbekar, Asha (2006). Pop Culture India!: Media, Arts, and Lifestyle. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781851096367. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  14. ^ "History is only a by-product for Bennett, Coleman & Co". Business Today. 23 June 2011. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  15. ^ Auletta, Ken (8 October 2012). "Citizens Jain". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 20 April 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  16. ^ "Just in times Shamni Pande, Business Today, July 10, 2011". 23 June 2011. Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  17. ^ Auletta, Ken (October 2012). "Citizens Jain, Why India's newspaper industry is thriving, Ken Auletta, The New Yorker, October 1, 2012". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 20 April 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  18. ^ "Details of most circulated publications for the audit period July – December 2013". Audit Bureau of Circulations. 21 May 2014. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  19. ^ "Times of India to be split between Samir and Vineet Jain, brothers seek funds: Reports". Free Press Journal. 3 May 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  20. ^ TimesNow. "Times – Movies and News Pack – Times Network News HD Premium Pack Price and Channel List". TimesNow. Archived from the original on 29 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  21. ^ "Times Network to launch Hindi news channel in mid June - Exchange4media". Indian Advertising Media & Marketing News – exchange4media. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  22. ^ Rajesh, Srividya (20 May 2021). "Times Network To Launch Hindi Business News Channel, ET Now Swadesh". IWMBuzz. Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  23. ^ "Change your life! SimplyMarry.com". The Times of India. 9 December 2006. Archived from the original on 11 March 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  24. ^ "Square Yards | Tanuj Shori | Art of Selling Real Estate - Money Matters with Shradha Sharma". YouTube. 9 June 2020. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.

Further reading

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