Indian Media History: 1822 to Today
From Bombay Samachar in 1822 and The Times of India in 1838 to NDTV and Zee News today, twenty-three institutions trace two centuries of how Indian journalism and broadcasting were built, censored, partitioned and rebuilt — spanning print, radio and television, the complete AiTimeline index. Each entity's own sourced timeline is one click away; this page never duplicates that detail.
Indian Media History at a Glance
Founded in Bombay, now Mumbai — still printing after more than 200 years.
⚖️Switched its publishing language overnight to dodge the Vernacular Press Act.
🗳️Its Bengali readership held even as Bengal itself was split in 1947.
📰Built from a single Hindi paper founded in Jhansi in 1942.
📡India's sole broadcaster for decades, until private satellite channels arrived.
🏆AiTimeline's single best-performing page, site-wide.
🗞️About 1.84 million audited copies a day in ABC's July–December 2025 figures.
📺The Adani group took control through a loan-linked company and an open offer.
🦁Its founder, his son and 62 staff were killed. The paper kept publishing.
Two Eras
Fourteen of these twenty-three institutions predate independence; nine were built after it. Kept as two threads so a paper founded under colonial censorship is never read as if it were built in the same country as one founded decades later.
Bombay Samachar, The Times of India, Amrita Bazar Patrika, The Statesman, The Hindu, Kesari, Malayala Manorama, Anandabazar Patrika, Lokmat, Hindustan Times, All India Radio, The Indian Express, Dainik Jagran and Navbharat Times — founded under colonial rule, several directly shaped by it.
Press Trust of India, Dinamalar, Dainik Bhaskar, Doordarshan, Punjab Kesari, Eenadu, India Today / TV Today Network, NDTV and Zee News — built inside independent India's broadcast and print expansion.
The Timelines
The living index to every Indian media institution AiTimeline covers — 23 timelines across two eras. Use the filters to narrow to what you need.
Bombay Samachar: Asia's Oldest Newspaper
How a Gujarati paper founded in 1822 became Asia's longest continuously published newspaper, still printing today.
The Times of India History: Bombay Times to Largest English Daily
How the twice-weekly Bombay Times of 1838 became India's largest English daily, through seven owners, a 1990s price war and an early website.
Amrita Bazar Patrika: The 1878 English Switch
How this Bengali paper switched to English overnight in 1878 to dodge the colonial Vernacular Press Act.
The Statesman: From Calcutta in 1875 to Today
How an English-language daily founded in Calcutta in 1875 as a voice of British India became an independent Indian newspaper.
The Hindu History Timeline: From Weekly to National Paper
How a Madras weekly founded in 1878 grew into one of India's most-cited national newspapers of record.
Kesari Newspaper: How Tilak Weaponised the Press
How Bal Gangadhar Tilak's Marathi weekly turned sedition trials into a national political stage.
Malayala Manorama History: Kerala's Largest Daily
How a paper that was shut down came back to become Kerala's largest-circulated daily.
Lokmat Newspaper: Weekly to Maharashtra's Media Giant
How Lokmat grew from a 1918 weekly into Maharashtra's dominant Marathi media group, built on district-level printing.
Anandabazar Patrika: History & Partition Legacy
How this Bengali daily became a voice of Bengali nationalism and kept its readers through Partition.
Hindustan Times: A Century of Indian Journalism
From a 1924 Delhi press opened by Gandhi through Birla ownership, a 1942 shutdown and the Emergency to its 2024 centenary.
All India Radio History: How AIR Shaped India's Story
How a private broadcaster founded in 1927 became the state radio network that reached villages television never could.
The Indian Express: The Blank Editorial During the Emergency
How this 1932 Madras daily ran a blank editorial page during the Emergency as a silent protest against censorship.
Dainik Jagran History 1942-2026: India's Most-Read Daily
From a small Hindi paper started in Jhansi in 1942 to India's most-read daily newspaper.
Navbharat Times History: From Paper to Phone
The Times Group's Hindi daily: founded in 1946, first issue on 3 April 1947 in Delhi, Mumbai from 1950, then a long move online.
Press Trust of India: The Wire Behind Indian News
How a non-profit news cooperative registered in August 1947 became the wire service that feeds Indian newsrooms.
Dinamalar at 75: A Tamil Daily's Journey
How a Tamil daily launched in Thiruvananthapuram on 6 September 1951 grew to ten editions, from Tirunelveli to Salem.
Dainik Bhaskar: From Bhopal to India's Largest Hindi Daily
How a Bhopal paper that began as Subah Savere in 1958 grew into one of India's largest Hindi newspaper groups.
Doordarshan History: From Monopoly to Modern Broadcasting
How India's only television broadcaster for decades lost its monopoly when satellite TV arrived.
Punjab Kesari History: A Hindi Daily's Journey
Lala Jagat Narain's 1965 Jalandhar daily: the Emergency, the killing of its founder and his son, the Delhi edition and a family split into two companies.
Eenadu Newspaper: Complete History Timeline
How a Telugu daily launched in 1974 grew into one of the most-read regional newspapers in India.
India Today: A Timeline of Media Industry Shifts
From a 1975 English fortnightly to a television and digital newsroom navigating an industry-wide reshaping.
NDTV History: From 1988 Pioneer to Adani-Owned Network
How a 1988 Doordarshan production company became a 24-hour news network, and how control passed to the Adani group in 2022.
Zee News: India's Hindi News Network
From a news bulletin on Zee TV and the all-news Zee India of 1998 to a 16-channel network with an AI news anchor.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the oldest newspaper in India still published today?
Bombay Samachar, founded in 1822 in Bombay (now Mumbai), is the oldest newspaper in India — and in Asia — still in continuous publication. Read the full timeline →
How many of India's major newspapers survived Partition?
Of the institutions on this page, Anandabazar Patrika is the clearest example: founded in 1922 in undivided Bengal, it kept its readership after the 1947 Partition split Bengal itself. Read the full timeline →
Which major Indian media brand was founded after independence?
Nine on this page were: Press Trust of India (1947), Dinamalar (1951), Dainik Bhaskar (1958), Doordarshan (1959), Punjab Kesari (1965), Eenadu (1974), India Today (1975), NDTV (1988) and Zee News (1999). They span a news agency, regional-language print, state broadcasting, English news media and private 24-hour television. See all nine →
Did colonial law ever force an Indian newspaper to shut down or change language?
Yes. Amrita Bazar Patrika switched from Bengali to English overnight in 1878 specifically to escape the restrictions of the colonial Vernacular Press Act. Read the full timeline →
How did Indian media move from print to television to digital newsrooms?
Doordarshan's broadcast monopoly gave way to satellite TV, while print institutions like India Today expanded into television and digital as the industry reshaped around them. Start with Doordarshan →
Which is India's largest English-language newspaper?
The Times of India, founded in 1838 as The Bombay Times. Audit Bureau of Circulations figures for July–December 2025 put it at about 1.84 million average copies a day, well ahead of any other English daily. Hindi dailies have larger circulations overall. Read the full timeline →
Who owns NDTV now?
The Adani group. It took control in 2022, first through a company that had lent money to NDTV's founders and then through an open offer, and held 69.02% after an October 2025 rights issue. Read the full timeline →
What's Next
The seven October 2026 additions — The Times of India, Hindustan Times, Navbharat Times, Dinamalar, Punjab Kesari, NDTV and Zee News — cleared the shortlist this hub was built to track. Four more stories have since been added: The Statesman, Lokmat, Press Trust of India and Dainik Bhaskar, taking the index to 23 institutions across English, Hindi, Marathi and Tamil print, a news agency and private television news. No further candidates are queued: the next entity added here still has to clear this site's own evergreen, specific-named-entity and demand-check gates before it gets a page of its own.