The Times Group

Bennett Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL),

Bennett Coleman and Company Ltd
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 Logo of The Times Group
group. In May 2023, the Times Group was split into two Company type Private
separate business entities between brothers Vineet Jain
Industry Mass media
and Samir Jain, such that its radio and broadcast
properties would remain with Vineet Jain and its print Founded 4 November 1838
properties would be under the ownership of Samir Headquarters Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Jain.[6][7] Key people Samir Jain
(Vice-Chairman and
Managing Director)
History Vineet Jain
(Managing Director)
The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce was first Sivakumar Sundaram
published on 3 November 1838 as a predecessor to what (Chairman, Executive
would become The Times of India.[8][9][10] While Committee)
starting as a biweekly paper, it was converted to a daily Products Publishing · broadcasting ·
in 1850. In 1859 the paper was merged with two other radio · films · entertainment
papers into the Bombay Times and Standard under · web portals
editor Robert Knight.[10][11] Two years later, in 1861, the Revenue ₹73.94 billion
paper got a more national scope with the title The Times (US$850 million) (2022)[1]
of India. Subsequently the paper saw its ownership Net income ₹4.57 billion
change several times until 1892 when an English (US$53 million) (2022)[1]
journalist named Thomas Jewell Bennett along with Owner Sahu Jain family
Frank Morris Coleman (who later drowned in the 1915
Number of 11,100 (2014)[2]
sinking of the SS Persia) acquired the newspaper employees
through their new joint stock company, Bennett,
Subsidiaries Times Internet
Coleman & Co. Ltd. (BCCL).[10][11] At the time, some
Bennett University
800 people were employed by the paper.
Times Music
Junglee Pictures
The company, by that time consolidated in the Times of Times Innovative Media
India Group, was taken over from its British owners in Limited
1946 by industrialist Ramkrishna Dalmia.[12][13] Times Business Solutions
Limited
Ramkrishna Dalmia (7 April 1893 – 26 September 1978) Indiatimes shopping
was a pioneer industrialist and founder of the Dalmia- Times Guaranty Ltd
Jain group or Dalmia Group and The Times Group. The Times Publishing House
name is variously written as Ram Krishan Dalmia and Limited
Ram Kishan Dalmia. In 1947, Dalmia engineered the
Website bccl.in (https://bccl.in/)
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

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 Times of India 1988 stamp of
India
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

Publications
The Times of India, largest circulation of any English-language newspaper in the world, with 2.8
million copies.[3][18]
The Economic Times[19]
Navbharat Times
Maharashtra Times
Ei Samay
Mumbai Mirror
Vijaya Karnataka
Bangalore Mirror
Pune Mirror
Bombay Times

Television channels
The Times Group owns the following channels.[20]
 SD/HD
Channel Language Category Notes
availability

Movies Now
SD+HD
MNX Formerly Movies Now 2
Movies
Romedy Now SD

MN+ HD

Times Now English SD

Times Now World HD Formerly Times Now HD
News
Replaced Magicbricks
Mirror Now SD+HD
Now

ET Now Business News SD

Times Now
News SD+HD
Navbharat[21]
Hindi
ET Now
Business News SD
Swadesh[22]
Zoom Hindi Music SD

Defunct channels

SD/HD
Channel Language Category Defuncted Notes
availability

1Sports English Sports 2023 SD

Times Business Solutions Limited

Times Business Solutions – A division of Times TBS
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 Company type Business Service
SimplyMarry.com.[23] Founded 2004
Net income 180,000,000 Canadian
TBS started as a division of BCCL in 2004 to create an dollar (2016)
exchange for job seekers and employers on the internet.
Number of 11,002 (2014)
With the growth of internet attaining rapid speed and employees
being a highly profitable venture, Times Business
Parent Times Internet
Solutions – A division of Times Internet Limited was
born as the "Internet Initiatives" of BCCL. Times Website http://www.tbsl.in/
Group, others put $20 million into Square Yards[24] in
September 2019.

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

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

See also
Publications of The Times Group

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11. "3rd November 1838: The Times of India, the newspaper, was founded" (https://www.mapsofindia.
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17. Auletta, Ken (October 2012). "Citizens Jain, Why India's newspaper industry is thriving, Ken
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ewyorker.com/magazine/2012/10/08/citizens-jain) from the original on 20 April 2020. Retrieved
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22. Rajesh, Srividya (20 May 2021). "Times Network To Launch Hindi Business News Channel, ET
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mplyMarry-com/articleshow/756209.cms). The Times of India. 9 December 2006. Archived (http
s://web.archive.org/web/20170311113629/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Change-your-life
-SimplyMarry-com/articleshow/756209.cms) from the original on 11 March 2017. Retrieved 29 July
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24. "Square Yards | Tanuj Shori | Art of Selling Real Estate - Money Matters with Shradha Sharma" (ht
tps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWH8Rmc65Rs&t=8s). YouTube. 9 June 2020. Archived (http
s://web.archive.org/web/20220629092407/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWH8Rmc65Rs&t=
8s) from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.

Further reading
Auletta, Ken (8 October 2012). "Citizens Jain – Why India's newspaper industry is thriving" (http
s://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/10/08/citizens-jain). The New Yorker. Retrieved 30 July
2018.
Thakurta, Paranjoy Guha (11 November 2012). "The Times, the Jains, and BCCL" (http://www.the
hoot.org/media-watch/media-business/the-times-the-jains-and-bccl-6425). The Hoot. Retrieved
30 July 2018.
"Gigantic List of Companies Owned by The TIMES Group" (https://www.melodyfuse.com/2019/09/
17/gigantic-list-of-companies-owned-by-the-times-group.html). MelodyFuse. 17 September 2019.
Retrieved 23 September 2019.

External links
Official website (https://bccl.in/)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Times_Group&oldid=1264745274"