Times Network announced today that its flagship channel Times Now has been officially launched in the UK. Times Now is led by Arnab Goswami, President (News) and Editor-in-Chief (Times Now and ET Now).
The channel will be distributed on Sky, one of the largest distribution platforms, with a reach of 12mn+ households.
Announcing the UK launch of Times NOW, M K Anand, CEO & MD of Times Network said, “Times Now has had a dream journey in India where it is has remained a leader in the English news space for the past 7 years. The success of Times Now among the viewers here has encouraged us to launch it for the Indians who live abroad and want to keep completely abreast of all the important news of their country and its growing eminence in the world.”
“The expansion of the channel in the UK market, for us, is the most important one since we launched in America in 2011, our International debut. UK is probably our biggest diaspora market. With this launch, we have just started building our presence in the European market and we intend to enter France and Germany too by next year,” Anand added.
Goswami further said, “Times Now is not just another English news channel that is launching in the UK. The channel is launching in the country because we want to give viewers in the UK a platform to voice their opinion. Times NOW will stay true to its tagline ‘ACTION BEGINS HERE’ and will encourage the viewers in the UK to take action and not wait for others to change their fortune. Times Now, in the UK, will initially focus on Indian news. However, we will be developing original content eventually for the British and global audiences.”
In terms of content plan for the UK, Times Now will be entering with an array of shows including shows from the Bollywood industry covered by sibling Zoom and business news evenings from 7 to 8 pm.
The shows include ‘The Newshour’ president by Arnab Goswami, ‘The Game’, a weekday evening show that covers events around sports, stories and interviews and hosted by Anand Narasimhan and Tina Sharma Tiwar, ‘Total Recall’, one hour, nostalgia-driven show touching on interesting trivia and facts, Wide Angle’, covers political news of the day, ‘Blueprint’, focus on the day’s biggest story and ‘Live Wire’, news roundup of the day
Times Now is leveraging all forms of media including television, radio, print, digital and OOH to create a buzz around its arrival in the UK, the company said.
With this launch Times Network channels have now reached 80 countries in a little over 4 years. “We are now building our local sales team and will enlist for BARB ratings soon. We have received encouraging feedback from advertisers with half a dozen clients already on board at launch. Our innovative marketing during PM Modi’s Wembley address is the start of our 3 phase marketing plan over the next six months to introduce the channel to the UK audiences,” informed Naveen Chandra, Head (International Business) of Times Network.
