The Times Group Explained

Bennett Coleman and Company
Type:Private
Location:Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Industry:Mass media
Revenue: (2022)[1]
Net Income: (2022)
Num Employees:11,100 (2014)[2]
Owner:Sahu Jain family
Subsid:

Bennett Coleman and Company Limited[3] [4] (abbreviated as B.C.C.L. and d/b/a The Times Group) is an Indian media conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The company, which is a family-owned business, publishes The Times of India newspaper, which is the highest selling daily English-language newspaper in India, in addition to several radio stations, television channels such as Times Now, the film magazine Filmfare, and the women's magazine Femina. The Sahu Jain family continues to own a majority of the stake in the group, and 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 Samir Jain.[5]

History

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.[6] [7] [8] 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.[9] 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). 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.[10] [11]

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.[12] Jain would buy the company a few years later and the company would be primarily run by his family in the years after.[13] The company expanded its presence in the Indian media sphere by founding different papers and local editions of The Times of India.

Decline and revival

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.[14] [15]

Assets

Publications

Television channels

The Times Group owns the following channels.[19]

ChannelLanguageCategorySD/HD availabilityNotes
Movies NowEnglishMoviesSD+HD
MNXFormerly Movies Now 2
Romedy NowSD
MN+HD
Times NowNewsSD
Times Now WorldHDFormerly Times Now HD
Mirror NowSD+HDReplaced Magicbricks Now
ET NowBusiness NewsSD
Times Now Navbharat[20] HindiNewsSD+HD
ET Now Swadesh[21] Business NewsSD
ZoomHindiMusicSD

Times Business Solutions Limited

TBS
Type:Business Service
Foundation:2004
Parent:DKS Solution
Homepage:http://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.[22]

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[23] in September 2019.

Times Internet

See 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

See main article: Radio Mirchi. Radio Mirchi is a nationwide network of private FM radio stations in India.

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. News: BCCL's FY21 consolidated revenue at Rs 5,337.94 crore . exchange4media.com . 21 November 2019 . Saini . Sonam . 27 May 2023 . 27 May 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230527175047/https://www.exchange4media.com/media-print-news/bccl-posts-a-total-profit-of-rs-456-cr-in-fy22-124735.html . live .
  2. News: Times Group may go for an IPO 'in the long run'. Business Standard. 8 November 2021. 8 November 2021. 17 May 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220517002901/https://www.business-standard.com/article/markets/times-group-may-go-for-an-ipo-in-the-long-run-112100600010_1.html. live.
  3. Web site: Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd.: Private Company Information . Bloomberg . 30 July 2018 . 30 July 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180730235956/https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=7604379 . live .
  4. Web site: BENNETT COLEMAN AND COMPANY LIMITED . . 30 July 2018 . 30 July 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180730235840/https://opencorporates.com/companies/in/U22120MH1913PLC000391 . live .
  5. https://www.financialexpress.com/business/brandwagon-times-group-split-samir-jain-takes-print-vineet-gets-broadcast-radio-biz-3095789/ Times Group split: Samir Jain takes print; Vineet gets broadcast, radio biz
  6. Book: The Bombay times and journal of commerce, 1838–1859. National Library of Australia. 1838. en. 9 July 2018. 5 January 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220105145059/https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/22658617. live.
  7. News: Bombay Times – Times of India ►. The Times of India. 2018-07-09. 2 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181202145502/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/miscellaneous/Bombay-Times/articleshow/55223939.cms. live.
  8. Web site: The Times of India. www.firstversions.com. 2018-07-09. 9 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180709064743/https://www.firstversions.com/2016/11/the-times-of-india.html. live.
  9. Web site: 3rd November 1838: The Times of India, the newspaper, was founded. www.mapsofindia.com. 3 November 2013. 2018-07-09. 15 November 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191115212439/http://www.mapsofindia.com/on-this-day/3rd-november-1838-the-times-of-india-the-newspaper-was-founded. live.
  10. Book: Rajan, Nalini. Practising Journalism: Values, Constraints, Implications. 2005-08-09. SAGE Publications India. 9788132102618. en.
  11. Book: Kasbekar, Asha. Pop Culture India!: Media, Arts, and Lifestyle. 2006. ABC-CLIO. 9781851096367. en. 9 July 2018. 29 June 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230629113922/https://books.google.com/books?id=Sv7Uk0UcdM8C&pg=PA112. live.
  12. Web site: History is only a by-product for Bennett, Coleman & Co.. 2022-01-07. Business Today. 23 June 2011. en. 7 January 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220107153637/https://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/bennett-coleman-and-co-among-100-year-old-indian-companies-22777-2011-06-23. live.
  13. Citizens Jain. Auletta. Ken. 2012-10-08. The New Yorker. 2018-07-09. en-US. 20 April 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200420031405/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/10/08/citizens-jain. live.
  14. Web site: Just in times Shamni Pande, Business Today, July 10, 2011 . 23 June 2011 . 24 April 2021 . 24 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210424234934/https://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/cover-story/bennett-coleman-and-co-among-100-year-old-indian-companies/story/16498.html . live .
  15. Citizens Jain, Why India's newspaper industry is thriving, Ken Auletta, The New Yorker, October 1, 2012 . The New Yorker . October 2012 . 22 May 2018 . 20 April 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200420031405/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/10/08/citizens-jain . live . Auletta . Ken .
  16. News: Uber in tie-up with Times of India digital arm . 23 March 2015 . Financial Times . James Crabtree, Mumbai . 24 March 2015 . 25 March 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150325162218/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6c6c4392-d0a9-11e4-a840-00144feab7de.html#axzz3VKpyrnhz . live .
  17. Web site: Details of most circulated publications for the audit period July – December 2013 . Audit Bureau of Circulations . 21 May 2014 . 24 March 2015 . 5 September 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190905020103/http://auditbureau.org/news/view/17 . live .
  18. Web site: 2023-05-03 . Times of India to be split between Samir and Vineet Jain, brothers seek funds: Reports . 2024-03-02 . Free Press Journal . en.
  19. Web site: Times – Movies and News Pack – Times Network News HD Premium Pack Price and Channel List. TimesNow. TimesNow. en-GB. 2019-04-30. 29 April 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190429093110/https://www.timesnownews.com/info/timesnetwork-trai-value-package/337775. live.
  20. Web site: Times Network to launch Hindi news channel in mid June - Exchange4media . 2021-05-19 . Indian Advertising Media & Marketing News – exchange4media . en . 19 May 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210519164256/https://www.exchange4media.com/media-tv-news/times-network-to-launch-hindi-news-channel-in-mid-june-113032.html . live .
  21. Web site: Rajesh . Srividya . 2021-05-20 . Times Network To Launch Hindi Business News Channel, ET Now Swadesh . 2021-08-29 . IWMBuzz . en . 29 August 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210829142121/https://www.iwmbuzz.com/television/news/times-network-launch-hindi-business-news-channel-et-now-swadesh/2021/05/20 . live .
  22. Web site: Change your life! SimplyMarry.com . . 9 December 2006 . 29 July 2016 . 11 March 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170311113629/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Change-your-life-SimplyMarry-com/articleshow/756209.cms . live .
  23. Web site: Square Yards | Tanuj Shori | Art of Selling Real Estate - Money Matters with Shradha Sharma . . 9 June 2020 . 29 June 2022 . 29 June 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220629092407/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWH8Rmc65Rs&t=8s . live .