Reuters and The Times of India Group are planning to launch a
24-hour television news channel later this year to serve India’s
growing urban audience.
Reuters is in the process of acquiring a
26 per cent equity stake in The Times Global Broadcasting Co Ltd, the
news broadcasting company of The Times of India Group which is set to
launch the news channel later this year.
Broadcasting initially
in English, the news and current affairs channel will operate from dual
centres in Mumbai and Delhi, supported by bureaux around the country.
The channel will include Reutersbranded programming from across the world.
Reuters
established its first news bureau in India in 1866 and today has five
bureaux in key cities across the country. Its financial information and
news business employs 821 people in India.
The new channel is
being launched in response to the growth in India’s cable TV market,
now the world’s third largest with 44 million subscribers.
Chris
Ahearn, president of Reuters Media, said: “Reuters has been doing
business in India for almost 140 years and is synonymous with trusted,
independent and accurate information.
“Working with The Times
Group in this way enables us to enter India’s dynamic broadcast
industry and reach its rapidly growing, information-hungry audience.
“This
investment marks an exciting new chapter for our media business in
India and is a key step in growing our global direct-to-consumer
business.”
The Times of India Group publishes the largest English-language broadsheet newspaper in the world.
Its website, www.indiatimes.com, is the largest in India, and the largest mobile value-added services provider in the country.
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