MAM
Time Warner is world’s top media owner: Zenithoptimedia
MUMBAI: Time Warner occupies the top spot in Zenithoptimedia’s ranking of the leading 30 global media owners.
Time Warner generates US$30 billion which is 13 per cent out of the total $215 billion that the top 30 global media owners earn in media revenue
The US has by far the most media owners in the ranking, followed by – in descending order – Japan, France and the UK, Germany, Italy and Mexico.
Two new-media companies – Google and Yahoo – are in the top 30. ZenithOptimedia’s ranking of the world’s biggest media owners is based on their revenues from activities that support advertising.
Some companies on the list are entirely media-focussed; others are corporate giants for which media forms only a small part of their overall turnover. ZenithOptimedia’s ranking strips out the non-media revenues to provide a true measure of each company’s size and power in the media market.
The ranking is based on revenues for 2005, or the nearest equivalent for companies whose financial years are different from calendar years. Some companies’ media revenues are therefore from the financial years ending in March 2006 or June 2006.
Time Warner is by some distance the largest media owner in the world, with $30 billion in media revenue. News Corp, the second-largest, generated just over half that – $17 billion.
The five top media owners are all based in the US. Each has at least a half share in a US television network, but their other holdings vary in nature and international extent. In all, 16 of the top 30 media owners are from the US. The other countries with media owners in the top 30 are Japan (with four representatives), France and the UK (with three each), Germany (two) and Italy and Mexico (one each).
Two new-media companies are in the top 30: Google, at 13th, and Yahoo! at 15th. The ranking forms part of a new report from ZenithOptimedia called the Top Thirty Global Media Owners. The report provides an overview of each media owner’s operations and lists the media properties they own, along with key personnel, media shareholdings, and financial data.
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Uidai partners with Google to help users locate Aadhaar centres
Verified Aadhaar centres to appear on Maps with services and access info
MUMBAI: Finding an Aadhaar centre may soon be as easy as finding your favourite café. In a move aimed at making public services more accessible, the Unique Identification Authority of India has partnered with Google to display authorised Aadhaar centres on Google Maps. The feature, expected to roll out in the coming months, will allow residents to locate verified centres quickly and confidently.
More than 60,000 Aadhaar centres, including state of the art Aadhaar Seva Kendras, will be mapped. When users search on Google Maps, they will be directed to authorised facilities rather than unverified listings, helping curb misinformation and confusion.
The listings will do more than drop a pin. Users will be able to see the nature of services offered at each centre, whether it is adult enrolment, child enrolment, or limited to address and mobile number updates. Details such as operating hours, parking availability and divyang friendly infrastructure will also be shown wherever applicable.
Uidai CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar, said the collaboration is part of the authority’s continued effort to improve ease of living for Aadhaar holders by making authorised centres simpler and faster to navigate.
The partnership will deepen in its next phase, with Uidai using Google Business Profile to manage information and respond directly to public feedback. Looking ahead, the two organisations are also exploring the option of enabling appointment bookings through the Google Maps interface, potentially allowing residents to plan their visits with greater efficiency.
Google India country head, strategic partnerships Roli Agarwal, said integrating verified Aadhaar centres would help millions access trusted services with confidence, bringing essential government infrastructure closer to the people who need it most.
If all goes to plan, a routine Aadhaar update may soon begin not with a queue, but with a search bar.
