Huffington Post ties up with Times Group

NEW DELHI: The Times Group entered into a partnership with leading US-based news and opinion website Huffington Post on Thursday to launch the website’s Indian edition. The website is expected to be launched later this year.
The combined strength of Huffington Post, which has 86 million monthly global unique visitors (desktops, comScore June 2014) and the Times Group, which has deep local knowledge and extensive reach, would compete with Indian news brands such as Firstpost and Scroll.
With the world’s second-largest English-speaking population—trailing only the US— India also has the third largest internet population globally. Times Internet (TIL), the Times Group’s digital arm, has a monthly reach of over 100 million visitors and serves 2 billion pageviews across web and mobile, with businesses across news, entertainment, sports, local, ecommerce, classifieds, startup investments, and local partnerships.
Targeting India’s rapidly expanding internet user base, which is expected to reach 370 million by 2015, HuffPost India will cover everything from politics, media and entertainment to technology, religion and lifestyle, and “open up its blogging platform to anyone in the country with a story to tell”, said a joint statement issued by the Times Group and Huffington Post.
The announcement of the tie-up was made by Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, and Satyan Gajwani, CEO of TIL.
“I’m delighted to launch HuffPost India, which will be our 12th edition since we began our international expansion three years ago,” said Arianna Huffington. “In addition to being a hub for global news and a country that embodies much of the ancient wisdom the world desperately needs now, India has deep personal significance to me. When I was 17, I studied comparative religion at Visva-Bharati University, outside of Calcutta, and traveled across India, falling in love with the country— a love affair that has continued to this day. So I’m extremely grateful for the chance to bring HuffPost to India to tell the stories that matter most—and just as important, to help people throughout India tell their stories themselves, in words, in pictures and in video.”
“The Huffington Post is the first real digital-first news success story globally, and their impact is seen across the world,” said TIL’s Gajwani. “We are excited to combine HuffPost’s world-class product with our local reach with consumers and advertisers to tailor-make a great new destination for Indian consumers,” he said. The two companies will establish an editorial team based in Delhi.
Huffington Post’s Media Group CEO Jimmy Maymann said that India was a critical destination for any media company. “With Indian household consumption predicted to continue to grow nearly 20% this year, this partnership gives us an ideal entry into what is expected to become the world’s 5th largest consumer market in the next 10 years.”
TIL’s parent, the Times Group, also publishes The Times of India.