The Times of India group has formed an online video network called the Times Audience Network (TAN), which partners with publishers and gives them access to videos from group properties - TV Channels Times Now and Zoom TV. In it's previous avatar, it was known as the Zoom Audience Network, and had the task of monetizing video content - from the groups Bollywood and entertainment focused TV channel Zoom. The Times Audience Network has partnered with BigAdda, which now claims to have as many as 4 million users, to provide news, feature content and interviews from Times Now and Zoom, as well as full length episodes from Zoom. Interestingly, as a part of the deal, both Zoom BigAdda and Times will monetize the video inventory. Evolution of Online Video Content In India India is a country that has very low broadband penetration - at less than 6 million broadband subscribers, mostly with speeds of 256 kbps, and yet YouTube, according to Alexa, YouTube ranks number 4 in the country, while India is the fifth largest contributor to YouTube, in terms of users visiting the site. Do note, however, that Alexa has its own issues when it comes to measuring traffic - its estimates are based on users who have the Alexa toolbar installed. The way the online video content space has evolved is quite interesting: The Destination Era: most publishers started hosting their own video content- they had destination sites, and expected that the exclusivity of their content would attract visitors. However, given…
