New Delhi: Asianet News Network today announced the acquisition of Newsfast, a leading Tamil Digital News platform. With this acquisition the group’s digital news media reach spans all the four Southern languages and English. With vernacular being the growth driver for Digital News, Newfast though a relative newbie in the space has been a strong challenger to many of Tamil’s more established legacy news brands. With over 1 Million unique visitors that site is recognized for breaking news especially in the context of the recent volatility in Tamil Nadu’s politics.
A leader in Malayalam and Kannada with www.asianetnews.tv and www.suvarnanews.tv, Asianet News Digital also recently launched www.telugu.asianetnews.tv Speaking on the acquisition , Anoop N, Chief Operating Officer, Asianet News Digital said “Asianet News Network has been focusing on creating a compelling digital video news platform that addresses the underserved South through its respective local languages and technology innovations in video and content distribution.
“At Asianet News Digital we focus on realizing the convergence of great high quality Content and Technology to deliver superior audience experience and engagement.”he added. Mathivanan M renowned TV journalist and founder of Newsfast said: “As a part of Asianet News Network, me and my team will now have access to a wider audience base and a stronger technology platform. We are excited about this next era of our growth.”
Newsable recently inducted prominent journalist and co-founder of Firstpost, Lakshmi Chaudhry as an Editorial Advisor. Speaking on her association, Lakshmi Chaudhry, Editorial Advisor, ANN said “Asianet News Network can now fully deliver on its promise of being the destination for South India focused video content. Asianet News Network’s strong brand credibility and presence across the four Southern states with strong vernacular teams and deep regional insights, provides us the edge to source and deliver content like none other.”
Through this acquisition, Asianet News network gets a head start in the intensely competitive Tamil digital news space. The network now has the ability to leverage the new Tamil news entity to further enhance the content stream in www.newsable.com, its English digital video platform. According to a recent industry report, Tamil has the highest Internet adoption amongst vernacular languages and the Tamil audience is also the most engaged on content with over one-third of them accessing news content online and most of them on mobile devices.
“For brands that work with us, this multi-platform reach across broadcast, print and digital offers a significant opportunity to influence the Southern markets” added Anoop.
“It allows us to craft digital-first solutions with deep regional relevance, supporting brands that want to look at vernacular markets as the next driver for brand expansion and growth. With the very mature Tamil market now in our scope, the opportunity to disrupt with superior content delivery is significant.” he concluded.
About Asianet News Network
Asianet News Network is amongst South India’s most pre-eminent media conglomerates with a portfolio of marquee brands within its fold. Asianet News is the flagship property of Asianet News Network – the undisputed No:1 Malayalam Broadcast News Channel for over two decades. With Suvarna News and the recently launched, Republic TV, the network is a distinct leader at the regional and national level. With Kannada Prabha, the network boasts of a 50 year legacy of credible print journalism. Asianet News’s digital property www.asianetnews.tv is the fastest growing vernacular Digital Content Platform from South India across all four Southern languages: Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and English.
