2010

TIMES GROUP

International
Academy Roshan
of Shahane
Management PGPM/0911/029
& 2009-2011
Entrepreneurship
 Times Group

Nature of business

The Times Group is the largest media services conglomerate in India .

The Times Group include publishing newspapers and magazines,
television broadcasting, running internet portals, creating and
distributing multimedia products and music publishing and retailing.
They have a distinguished presence across diverse mediums
like Print Media,Web portals, Radio, Music labels and some presence in
financial sector. Their presence, rather the better word is dominance, in
the print media is legendary and the way they have leveraged their
presence in certain segments and extended that domination to newer
horizons is worth many a business lessons. They have created some best
known business models in the popular media like Radio Mirchi , Times
Music, and the Indiatimes site. Some of India’s best known icons of
entertainment is linked with the Times Group , like the annual Filmfare
Awards, the Femina Miss India shows and plethora of entertainment
events happening accross the country and the globe. All in all, a portfolio
of names that has inspired many generations with nostalgia, awed the
youth with sheer euphoria and carried the nations’ sentiments on its
pages over the years.

The Times Group has a proprietary stake by the Jains of Delhi and is
currently chaired by Ms Indu Jain and Mr Vineet Jain, is the Managing
director. It’s corporate headquarters are in Mumbai and the newspaper
division is headquartered at Bahadur Shah Marg , New Delhi, the street
made famous by the hustling and bustling of premier fourth estate of
India.

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Turnover of the company
BCCL’s turnover is estimated at over Rs 4,000 crore and profits to the
tune of Rs 1,000 crore, a measure of the success with which the elder
Jain has steered the group. Some analysts reckon that if BCCL were to
list, it could have a market value of Rs 40,000 crore, making it the most
valuable media group in the country. Even if the group were to sell only a
10 per cent stake in itself, it could raise Rs 4,000 crore—enough moolah
to smother competition.
Times Group revenue
Revenue ▲$700 million USD (Aug 2007)
Employees 7,000 (2007)

History and milestone

The first edition appears on November 3, 1838, known as The Bombay
Times and Journal of Commerce. The newspaper is published twice a
week under editor J.E. Brennan. It is basically a city paper reflecting the
interest of Bombay's business community.
In 1859: Bombay Standard and Chronicle of Western India merges into
The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce to form Bombay Times &
Standard.
In 1861: Editor Robert Knight amalgamates The Bombay Times &
Standard and Bombay Telegraph & Courier to form The Times of India
and gives it a national character.
In 1880: The Times of India Weekly Edition is launched. This was later
called The Times of India Illustrated Weekly and finally as The
Illustrated Weekly of India in 1923.
In 1907: In the newspaper's first price war under editor Stanley Reed,
the price is cut from 4 annas to 1 anna, and circulation rises 5 times.
In 1946: For the first time, the paper transfers to Indian ownership. Ram
Kishan Dalmia buys out Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd for Rs. 2 crores.
Partly, the takeover is funded by illegal money transfers from other
companies, and Ram Kishan was imprisoned after the matter was raised
in parliament by Feroze Gandhi in 1955.
In 1948: Sahu Jain Group become the owners of the company after
Dalmia sells the firm to recover 2.5 crores he needs to pay back to an
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insurance company. sahu Shanti Prasad Jain, son-in-law of Ram Kishan
Dalmia, becomes the first chairman of the group.
In 1950: Delhi edition is launched with K. Gopalswami as the first Indian
editor.
In 1952: Filmfare launched and started by J.C Jain, the first Indian to be
the GM of TOI.
1959: Femina is launched.

1960: Sahu Ramesh Chandra Jain joins BCCL

1961: The Economic Times is launched.

1984: Samir Jain and Vineet Jain join BCCL.

1987: Printing of The Times of India from Kandivili Press.

1990: The Times School of Marketing is established as an in-house

training school to feed the group

1991: BBC features The Times of India among the world's six great
newspapers.

1993: BCCL starts production of television software.

1996: The Times of India crosses 1 million mark in circulation.

1998: BCCL enters into music market with Times Music.

1999: Indiatimes webportal launched; BCCL enters music retailing

business with Planet M.

2000: The Times of India crosses the 2 million mark in circulation.

2000: Times of money - JV with Citibank.

2001: Radio Mirchi - Nationwide Private FM Broadcasting.

2001: 360 Degrees - Event Management Arm launched.

2002: Times Outdoor - Outdoor Advertising & Billboard Marketing.

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2003: Times Classifieds - Classifieds site catering to web audiences, the
group publications and also publications from other countries like Sri
Lanka.

2004:

 Launch of the Times Private Treaties - The Innovative Branding

Solution from The Times Group stable.
 Launch of the Jobs portal Times Jobs.
 Television Business launched with the launch of a lifestyle and
entertainment channel called z00m.

2005: Launch of a Matrimonials website TimesMatri.

2006:

 Launch of a television News Channel called Times Now in

collaboration with Reuters.
 Radio Mirchi holding company ENIL (Entertainment Network
India Limited) lists on the Indian stock markets. It is the first
Times Group company to List on the bourses.
 Launch of a Property services Portal Magic Bricks
 TimesMatri is rebranded as Simply Marry .
 A new holding company by the name of TBSL is created. This
company controls the brands TimesJobs SimplyMarry (earlier
called TimesMatri) and MagicBricks
 TimesofMoney launches Remit2Home, to cater to Global
Remittance Market

2007:

 Launch of The Times of India - Kannada

 Launch of Bangalore Mirror
 Launch of Ahmedabad Mirror

2008:

 Launch of SimplyMarryZine.com
 Launch of The Times of India, Chennai Edition .
 Launch of Pune Mirror.
 Launch of Times of India - Goa, along with Goa Mirror.

2009:

 Launch of ET Now - A business news channel

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Key people
Indu Jain (Chairman)
Samir Jain
Vineet Jain (MD)
Ravi Dhariwal (CEO)

Analysis of Org. Structure

Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd., better known as the publisher of English
daily The Times of India, is india's largest media group. Bennett,
Coleman & Co. Ltd. is the flagship company of The Times Group.
The Times Group has:

 11 publishing centers
 15 printing centers
 55 sales offices
 Over 7000 employees
 5 dailies including two of the largest in the country
 2 lead magazines
 29 niche magazines
 Reach in 2468 cities and towns
 Turnover in excess of US $ 500 million

Its subsidiary companies include

• Times Infotainment Media Limited & Entertainment Network

India Limited(TIML & ENIL)
• Times Internet Limited (TIL)
• Times Global Broadcasting Limited
• Times Business Solutions
• World Wide Media
• VPL, Bangalore Publisher of Vijay Karnataka
• Times Private Treaties
• TIML Radio Limited
• Times Syndication Service

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PRODUCT PROFILE

• The Times of India, World's largest English-language broadsheet

daily newspaper in terms of circulation
• The Economic Times, India's largest financial daily, and the world's
second largest in terms of circulation after The Wall Street Journal
• Maharashtra Times, India's largest Marathi daily
• Navbharat Times, the largest Hindi Daily in Delhi and Mumbai
• Mumbai Mirror India's largest circulated compact newspaper
• Kolkata Mirror, a city specific online portal
• Ahmedabad Mirror
• Pune Mirror
• Bangalore Mirror, Bangalore's first morning compact daily
• The Times of India - Kannada

• Times Private Treaties, Partnering Ideas. Accelerating Growth.

Target Customers

• Finance
• Political
• Sports
• Entertainment
• Ethics
• Technology
• Global
• health

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Positioning Strategies

“Move first, Move fast “

Times group was founded with a simple belief - to create world-class
media product and services. Our mission stems from the belief that
consumer experience is critical to our success.
Continuous innovation
Being in a dramatically-changing business-the internet-amounts to: act
granular, think big. Our customers are just joining the digital revolution.
So, we must keep anticipating the ir preferences through meticulous
work, continuous innovation, and consistency in quality.
Where idia lives
ideas rarely die, because we vehemently believe in the freedom to
disagree.We believe in keeping the floodgates of ideation open all the
time. We are not subsumed by it, we generously give every idea enough
gestation-time even if it means forking out time from our daily work.
Smart-sensing the future
Times group seeks to be a media megamart that infotains the customer,
creates community value, delights the smart shopper, provides cutting-
edge solutions to the advertiser, and believes in the magic of the idea.

Competitors

The Hindu
The Hindustan Times
The Indian Express
The Asian Age
The Economic Times
Business Standard
Deccan Chronicle
Midday
The Financial Express

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Distribution Network

Times Of India Is Printed From The Following Places

Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Goa,Hyderabad, Jaipur,
Kolkata,Lucknow,Mangalore,Mysore,Nagpur,Patna,Pune,Ranchi, Surat.
STRATEGIES
 Move first, Move fast
 Multiple ties
 Continuous innovation
PROCESS OF CIRCULATION
 The printed newspapers have to be dispatched to various
distributors across the region. Transportation is normally through
private contract carriers within local area, public transport in case of
longer distances and through couriers in other cases.
 Hawkers, vendors and book stall owners are the last link of the
supply chain before newspaper reaches readers. The hawkers'
remuneration is also normally based on the commission system and is
generally the highest in the entire supply chain.

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths
Strong existing distribution channels Most paid-circulation papers, both
daily and weekly, reach the majority of homes in their primary city or
town Easy to understand The trust of 128 years, because of which people
have full confidence on it. News is available online also.
Weakness
Easy language is not preferred by more learned and professional
persons. It charges high price as compared to Hindustan times and
Times of India Just covering North India.
Opportunities
Growing disposable income of consumers Increase in awareness raises
the need for newspaper. To extends its publication all over India.
Threats
Strong competition Entry of new players More price as compared to
other English dailies.

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 Value chain

Times group delivering value to their users like readers, listeners,

viewers and all
They do through media , by giving value to advertisers
 more connectivity
 define and enhance social status
 make life pleasurable and entertaining
 involve and engage
as per above activity they target market relevant audience and provide
value to users.
 Target relevant audience
 360 degree solution
 Critical cumulative reach

Future Outlook

For BCCL or Times group , print remains the main component, and the
processes of the print business and the online business are different; the
dynamics are different. The Times Group (BCCL), had hived off its
classifieds business into a separate entity called Times Business
Solutions Ltd (TBSL). TBSL includes e-recruitment services (Timesjobs
& SmartHire), real estate portal MagicBricks, matrimonial classifieds
site SimplyMarry (formerly Times Matri), general classifieds site (still in
beta) Yolist.com, and advertising booking service Ads2book.com. Times
group has mobile plans for all of its services.
Times group have done offline activities in Kuwait and Singapore. So in
that sense, they are testing those markets.

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