Who doesn’t know The Times of India (TOI), the largest selling English language daily in the world? What was launched as a bi-weekly ‘The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce’ in 1838 under the direction of Raobahadur Narayan Dinanath Velkar, a Maharashtrian social reformer, would be unrecognisably large and powerful to its founders today.
The Times Group (Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd. or BCCL) of today started as a newspaper with news from Britain and the world, as well as the Indian subcontinent, edited by JE Brennan.
In 1850 it began to publish daily editions. It was renamed as ‘The Times of India’ in 1861. It is the oldest English language newspaper in India and the second oldest Indian newspaper still in circulation.
After changing hands more than once, the media behemoth is now called Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. (BCCL), and is owned by the Sahu Jain family.
The paper has shown no signs of aging and keeps reinventing itself to remain in step with its readership. On a parallel, it has invested deeply and widely across the media spectrum and in particular, in the digital space.
In print, publications under Times Group include leading financial daily The Economic Times, Navbharat Times, Maharashtra Times, Vijaya Karnataka, Bangalore Mirror, Education Times, Nav Gujarat Samay, Times Property, EI Samay, Mumbai Mirror, Sandhya Times and Times Ascent.
The Times Of India has impressed more than once with its brand campaigns, giving advertiser brands a run for their money in the awards circuit.
Lead India campaign ad film
A Day in the Life of Chennai
India’s ‘Times’ is no longer just a newspaper or even a news brand. It is a media brand with a formidable presence across consumer touchpoints.
