MxMIndia

Tag: Hindustan Times

  • OneIndia, available by invitation to select display advertisers only, offers the unique benefit of a single-platform reach comparable and incremental to television

    HT, Hindu & ABP groups get together to offer single-platform reach to advertisers

    By A Correspondent

     

    Six leading publications of the country – Hindustan Times, Hindustan, The Hindu, The Hindu Tamil, The Telegraph and Ananda Bazar Patrika have come together and formed the OneIndia group as a platform to facilitate reach to the largest print audience with a single advertisement.

     

    OneIndia, available by invitation to select display advertisers only, offers the unique benefit of a single-platform reach comparable and incremental to television, along with the many clear benefits of print, such as immediacy, impact, comprehension, credibility, and a clutter-free environment, to name a few.

     

    Talking about the key idea behind this alliance, Benoy Roychowdhury, Executive Director, HT Media Ltd., said, “The idea behind OneIndia is to provide an unduplicated reach like never before, along with a single-window service, in order to invite non-print and infrequent print advertisers to experience and profit from the significant benefits of print advertising.”

     

    Apart from the fact that print media readership is significantly more upmarket than television, several research studies globally have also demonstrated that print plus TV has driven more than 20 per cent incremental push-through in brand equity compared to TV alone. Further, some recent media multiplier research studies by leading international research agencies have demonstrated that print advertising in Asia-Pacific indexes three times more than TV on RoI, and five times more on brand impact.

     

     

  • Pradyuman Maheshwari lists 13 reasons why 2013 could best be hashtagged #Fail (and also a few reasons why there is hope in 2014)

    Thirteen Reasons why 2013 was a #Fail for the Indian Media

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Okay, so we are all going to down our sorrows tonight… in alcohol, in parties, stuck on the road in traffic, at office, on television watching Kapil Sharma for the nth time or an awards show or some other semi-entertaining stuff. Or just a quiet moment with family and friends.

     

    But before we do that, let’s take one last look at the 2013 and wish we could put some of the downers behind  us. Sadly, they can’t.

     

    Here goes my list of 13…

     

    Tarun Tejpal

    Tehelka founder. Alleged rapist. And as it has emerged, misused his position in recent years to achieve his ends.

     

    Mumbai Photojournalist Gangraped

    The media was at the forefront of the movement against atrocities to women through the year. And then one of our very own was gangraped. On an assignment, in daylight, in Mumbai, a city that prides itself to be safe for women. The lady is fine, but the scars will never go away.

     

    Hindustan Times Paid News

    And we thought that the corporate types running Hindustan Times knew what happens when you devalue a news brand by going in for a Medianet-like paid content service. Agreed there’s a footnote, but it’s in fineprint and the paid-for stories aren’t tagged ‘Paid Content’. Why, just why?

     

    Paid News still rules

    The recent elections saw many instances of paid news around the time of the elections with the EC asking the law ministry to make it an electoral offence. However,  what about the publications publishing the news? Shouldn’t those indulging in the corrupt practice also be suitably penalized, even if means losing the RNI registration/licence.

     

    Minister’s priorities

    Even the most sensible of politicians do bizarre things as I&B ministers. We’ve had one of the earliest ones in independent India banning film songs on Vividh Bharati. One went ballistic against news channels. Another frowned upon ads. Our current minister – Manish Tewari – isn’t bad news, but he could do with a better set of priorities. And not just talk about contradictions and paradoxes in his speeches. Also, not interfere in DD news.

     

    Industry divided

    The various industry associations in media,advertising and entertainment are a divided lot. The officebearers may be good friends otherwise, but their associations are often at loggerheads. And paying the price for all of this is the industry.

     

    Abby has really turned Shabby

    Of the various awards held in the country, the Creative Abby has turned out to be shabbiest. The biggest in the business (Lowe, Ogilvy) have not been participating, there are disputes about scam ads and last year we even had some complaints about a few awardwinning ads being plagiarized. All practitioners need to get together and discuss the future of the Oscars of the creative advertising business.

     

    State of magazine media in question as ABP sells BusinessWorld

    In a sense one should be thankful that it was sold, and not shut like the Indian editions of People, GEO and Marie Claire magazines. But BusinessWorld is an iconic brand and was owned by a large, prosperous media group like Ananda Bazar Patrika. The fact that the group lost interest in the magazine and found they couldn’t make the kind of money out of the publication was a sorry commentary on the state of the magazine media. Thankfully, Annurag Batra bought it on behalf of a group of unnamed investors.

     

    Professionals v/s Families

    There are many large and successful business conglomerates run by professionals, but in the world of media, not many professionals have done too well when the family gets active in the business. Two years back, The Hindu brought in professionals on the editorial and business front. It was a bold decision. But in 2013, both Editor and CEO were booted out. I don’t think any rightminded (or leftminded, given it’s Hindu) editor would ever want to join the paper at the helm after this.

     

    Corporate influence in media

    We all agree that the media must ask the tough questions, often being cynical when there is no need for being one. But that’s what it used to be. In a recent accident, the identities of the owners of a car that hit two others was hushed up by most media. The name of the corporate cropped up, but the news wasn’t investigated  in the same way as any other high profile accident case. Is this the influence of big business on the media? Why is it that media entities not directly owned or managed by big businesses also buckle under pressure? Wake up, guys. There’s no point being in the news media when you are going to crawl even there’s no one asking you to do so.

     

    Retrenchment rules

    Staff sackings are not a new story in the media. Some do it with a jhatka, others prefer halal. The best of newsmedia organizations have seen sackings. This writer has been involved with many over the years. The question is how you do it, and how sensitive you can be to the employee’s personal life. We hear of many cases of people opting out of journalism and media companies because of the way employers behave.

     

    Most media schools suck!

    The media wave of the 1990s and 2000s ensured a mad rush for the media and mass communication courses across the country. Everyone wanted to be a Piyush Pandey, Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt and now Arnab Goswmi. But the faculty sucks at even the AICTE-approved institutes – mediocre professionals and trainers teach at these places, the curriculum is pathetic, fee cheques and not a rigorous entrance procedure is the only barrier for entry. The result: products of a large number of media schools are below par.

     

    Hold a mirror, News Media!

    What upset one most about the Hindu’s humbling of the Editor and CEO as well as the termination of edition and employee services at Outlook group’s publications was the way in which both were done. Is it the same media that otherwises sermonizes on how the world should behave? Hold a mirror, guys. Mr Ram, did you really need to write that looong letter detailing your misgivings about the editor and CEO? Thankfully, both of them have found jobs, but had it been in another era with no social media, people would’ve doubted their bonafides.  Ditto with the Outlook group, the same magazine company that has Vinod Mehta at its helm…. how could they not have the decency to even speak to employees who got to know about the closure from a tweet?

     

    But there’s hope…

    Indrajit Gupta fights for PR exec

    You don’t hear too often about editors taking up the cause of PR professionals who are subjected to harassment for a negative story in their publication. IG (as Indrajit is called) took up the case and cause for the late Charudatta Deshpande and continues to do so

     

    Arindam Chaudhari thrown out of Mid-Day

    Yes, Mid-Day actually junked his column after it realized that it’s giving the paper a bad name (now Kushan Mitra needs to do the same at Pioneer)

     

    Shashi Sinha cements the industry

    If there’s a Nobel Peace Prize for the Indian media, IPG Interbrands CEO Shashi Sinha should walk away with the awards. Hands down.  He tried his best to cleanse the Creative Abby at Goafest, in fact he did manage that and what happened in the 2013 edition was not really his doing. And now he’s building consensus on television measurement amongst broadcasters and advertisers and media agencies as head of BARC’s technical committee.

     

    Uday Shankar, Punit Goenka, Raj Nayak… entertainment merchants think big

    There’s hope for 2014 as our entertainmentwallahs are truly dreaming big. Uday Shankar is thinking big at Star India, Punit Goenka has planned some 10 new channels for Zee, and Raj Nayak pulled a mega serial in 24 with ease.  And you can’t keep Sony out of things for too long. Three cheers!

     

  • The Kala Ghoda festival, which has been a property The Times of India has supported for the last 8 years, will now bear the Hindustan Times name on its title

    HT gets aggressive in Mumbai, replaces TOI as Kala Ghoda festival partner

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Hindustan Times is finally exerting itself in Mumbai via various city-linked activities. First it was promoting the various editorial features on improving Mumbai’s infrastructure. Then it was the awards for public-spirited citizens and organizations. And, now, there’s partnering the Kala Ghoda festival which has been a property The Times of India has supported for the last 8 years.

     

    The festival will now be titled ‘Hindustan Times Kala Ghoda Arts Festival’.  The theme of this year’s festival is ‘Momentum’ and the festival will also have a new section on Urban Design and Architecture.

     

    Speaking on the collaboration with Hindustan Times, Maneck Davar, Chairperson of the Kala Ghoda Association, said: ” Starting with its 16th edition in Feb 2014, the Kala Ghoda Association is proud to be associated with HT. In the period that it has been in Mumbai, HT has been aware of the aspirations of citizens and has instituted many campaigns that reflect the needs of the city.”

     

    Commenting on the collaboration, Nitin Chaudhry, Business Head, HT Mumbai said, “It is a great moment for Hindustan Times to be hosting one of the biggest traditions in Mumbai city. It reiterates our belief in the city and gives us a great opportunity to offer more to the city.”

     

    Speaking on the Kala Ghoda Festival’s role in building the HT brand in Mumbai, Shantanu Bhanja, VP Marketing said: “The true goal for us in Mumbai is to bring meaningful change in the city – change that is socio-economic, infrastructural and cultural. Hosting Kala Ghoda Arts Festival is a significant step in that direction since it integrates us with the arts and culture of the city.”

     

    The Hindustan Times Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (HTKGAF) will be held over nine days from Feb 1- 9, with 450 programmes conducted across 15 venues in South Mumbai.

     

  • In less than two months of the controversial coup that saw editor Siddharth Varadarajan and his exit, CEO Arun Anant’s next port of call has been announced

    Former Hindu CEO Arun Anant moves to Hindustan Times

    Arun Anant

    By A Correspondent

     

    He faced the axe at Chennai-based newspaper company for doing his job well. And in less than two months of the controversial coup that saw editor Siddharth Varadarajan and his exit, CEO Arun Anant’s next port of call has been announced.

     

    Mr Anant, the affable media former CEO of The Hindu, is all set to join HT Media this month. He is to take place in the Leadership Team of the group and will report to Executive Director Benoy Chowdhury. Although the nitty-gritty of his role has not been revealed, Mr Anant is likely to be taking up a top media marketing responsibility.

     

    Having successfully fought the onslaught of The Times of India in Chennai and also launched the Hindu’s Tamil edition, Mr Anant has had rich experience in multiple media entities. He was part of the launch of what is now Bloomberg TV India from 2007-08 and for two years with Myiris.com, a B2C financial markets portal. He had a decade-plus stint with Lintas India in various functions and in a start-up advisory for a few years post the UTV job.

     

    Mr Anant is an engineer from IIT-Varanasi (BHU) and a postgraduate in management from IIM Ahmedabad.

     

  • Hindustan Times organizes an awards event without any frills and long speeches with the focus on changemakers and changemaking

    ‘HT for Mumbai Awards 2013’ awards changemakers

    By A Correspondent

     

    We should’ve carried this report Hindustan Times on Monday, the first edition after the awards happened on Friday, November 22, so our apologies to our readers. It’s one of those events which gladdened our hearts and worth the wait. It was a no-nonsense event. The chief guest, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, entered the venue premises much ahead of the scheduled time of start. An emcee kicked off the proceeds, the Mumbai editor Soumya Bhattacharya spoke a bit, the speech short and sober, as the occasion demanded.

     

    There was just one av promo of the paper and then the six awards were given away. Very short speeches again by the winners and by the CM Prithviraj Chavan. Mr Chavan left soon after the awards and when a panel discussion on the topic ‘Giving back to Mumbai’ started.

     

    According to a communiqué, HT for Mumbai Awards recognized and rewarded people and organizations who share a passion for change by giving back to the city of Mumbai, and making it a better place to live in (www.htformumbaiawards.com). The inaugural edition of the awards saw an eminent jury: Dr Aroon Tikekar (distinguished historian and former editor), Chandra Iyengar, an IAS officer, Rahul Bose (actor, director, sportsman) apart from , HT’s Special Projects editor Smruti Koppikar and Mr Bhattacharya.

     

    The winners in the Individual Category were Kishore Bhatt, Pankaj Joshi and Sunjoy Monga, whereas the winners in the Organization category were Majlis, LEARN and Akhsara. There was a Popular Choice Award category too where the winners were selected by voting via SMS and a digital microsite. The Lifetime achievement award was awarded to the noted historian and author, the Late Sharada Dwivedi.

     

    Our view: excellent event. We think the ‘HT for Mumbai’ awards evening should be conducted on a bigger scale next year. It should be promoted on television like various other ‘awards’ are so that it motivates more citizens and organizations to turn changemakers. There could be an award for corporates doing great work in an effort to encourage them to take up work for the community. And while it’s a healthy sign that the event happened without seniors from Delhi (Nitin Chaudhry, Business Head – West and team were of course present), it would be seen as a huge commitment to Mumbai and the Mumbai edition if the big bosses from Delhi were also in attendance.

     

  • Leading Hindi daily Hindustan launches 'Ranchi Live' in the Jharkhand capital

    Hindustan goes ‘live’ in Ranchi

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hindustan launched a new offering ‘Ranchi Live’, a 6-page companion for readers of Ranchi.

     

    ‘Ranchi Live’ has dedicated sections like Local news, Career, Technology, and Entertainment, notes a communique adding: “There are special sections where news from campus is featured in a manner which is easy to consume and is of interest to youngsters. Technology, Gadget reviews, career tips are featured in dedicated sections on specific days of the week.”

     

    ‘Ranchi Live’ is circulated free-of-cost with the main paper.

     

  • Hindustan Times Editor-in-Chief Sanjoy Narayan and Shantanu Bhanja, Business Head and Vice President – Marketing on Page One Plus, the editorial direction and why paid content in the form of promotional features hasn't gone away from the paper

    Sanjoy Narayan & Shantanu Bhanja on the ‘refreshed’ Hindustan Times: Taking ‘bad news’ head on

    Sanjoy Narayan & Shantanu Bhanja

    By A Correspondent

     

    Getting news media top brass to take questions on their product isn’t easy – either they don’t trust media websites or other news journalists or just don’t think it’s critical for them to speak to journalists even though expect their own staffers to chase news stories. MxMIndia though has been fortunate to get many of them to speak on their moves – especially those from the mainline dailies.

     

    Earlier this week, leading daily Hindustan Times introduced a refreshed look with some changes in the design, but most significantly an innovation in the form of a slim tearaway sheet on top of the Page 1 of the main paper called the ‘Page One Plus’.  To coincide with the refresh (created by the HT Design team led by Anup Gupta), a new multiple media brand campaign by Lowe Lintas, New Delhi was unveiled.

     

    In an extensive emailed interaction with Editor-in-Chief Sanjoy Narayan and Shantanu Bhanja, Business Head and Vice President – Marketing, the editor-marketer duo take questions on Page One Plus, the editorial direction and why paid content in the form of promotional features hasn’t gone away from the paper.

     

    01. We’ve been hearing about the changes that have been introduced, but one had expected it to happen after your new managing editor Nicholas Dawes had settled in?

    We have been working on the refresh for almost a year. No such big initiative is ever dependent on one individual; even here, it has been one big, multi-department project driven by the editorial, design and marketing teams. As for Nicholas, we are delighted to have him on board. His experience and expertise is going to further strengthen the product, as we seek to make continuous improvements day after day.

     

    02. The use of the tearaway, slim jacket as an editorial add-on is interesting. Since HT also carries full ad jackets and full page ads on Page 1, how will the ‘Page One Plus’ be configured in the pagination (given the various full-page ads)

    Page One Plus, which is an industry-first concept, is an integral part of the regular Page One, and research and preliminary findings point to very high likability because of the utility value. Ad jackets and full-page ads will continue the way they have been, giving advertisers the high impact they desire.

     

    Any size restrictions for ads on Page One Plus?

    We have put together a set of advertising norms for Page One Plus. The endeavour is to give readers sufficient news and information, while also giving the advertiser some additional premium advertising space which they have not had hitherto.

     

    03. Can you take us through (the investments in) production facilities that led you to introduce the ‘Page One Plus’?

    We have invested substantial amounts in our printing facility in Greater Noida, following on from our previous large investments in Mumbai printing facilities, to build significantly higher capacity both in terms of pagination and number of copies.

     

    04. We notice that the ‘Page One Plus’ has been introduced only in Mumbai and Delhi. What about the other editions which have also gone in for a new look? Will we see a Page One Plus-like innovation also in Hindustan or Mint?

    To begin with, Page One Plus has been launched in our Delhi-NCR and Mumbai editions. We are evaluating the option of taking it to other cities we are present in.  At the moment, there is no plan for incorporating it in Hindustan or Mint.

     

    05. Was the movement of business to the main paper in the Delhi edition caused by the addition of the ‘Page One Plus’?

    Not really. In Delhi, we moved HT Business to the main book following reader requests over the last few years. Research indicated that readers preferred business and industry news to be part of the main newspaper; incidentally, it also helps advertisers who have been keen addressing readers of the Business section within the Main-book environment.

     

    06. Could you give specifics on the new editorial features and columnists? Any new columns, any replaced/dropped?

    We’ve introduced a number of new features and columnists as part of this refresh and you’ll see them soon. We continuously evaluate our list of columnists and try to ensure we have an eclectic mix of writers. We’ve also introduced a community column. For instance, we had a Delhi-based Maharashtrian writer contribute to the Delhi edition on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.

     

    07. Your last para notes: “…we want to change the depressing narrative of news around us. From corruption and inflation to crime against women, there’s so much negativity around us. Let’s come together to fight this”. What does the “change the depressing narrative of news around us” mean? On Day 1 of the new-look we’ve seen the Delhi edition leading with the UP story while Mumbai had Leander Paes taking pride of place on the top? So, will the new HT be a more, activisty paper in the civic sense rather than politics, corruption and government inefficiencies

    News today is full of negativity – from stories of strewn garbage to crime against women and deaths due to bad roads to the state of education that continues to plague a 21st century India. HT’s approach will be to take this ‘bad news’ head on. We will put the spotlight on these issues — both local and national — that affect our readers, cover them relentlessly, partner citizens and impact change. We will, together, make news better. The ‘Let’s Make News Better’ campaign is a statement of our vision, and is aimed at joining hands with our readers and impacting change around us.

     

    Therefore, HT will certainly focus on civic issues which impact readers, but also continue to report and follow up on all types of issues ranging from politics to corruption and government inefficiencies, which interest and affect the readers just as much.

     

    08. With the rising dollar rate, there’s been a pressure on newsprint and production costs. HT too has dropped some pages over the months (in Mumbai at least, unsure about Delhi). In the refreshed paper, do we see the return of any of the features done away?

    While the industry has been forced to cut columns, we have not dropped any special features, sections or columns. The refreshed paper will, in fact, see a few interesting additions.

     

    09. Will we see any revision of cover price in the near future?

    Price revisions will happen from time to time, depending on the economic situation, as indeed they have happened in the past when the cost increases necessitate that.

     

    10. While some editorial changes have been introduced, what stays unchanged is the ‘paid content’ or promotional features? Given that we don’t see too many paid-for features on the allocated pages in HT, why don’t you dispense with it altogether rather than bring disrepute to the entire newspaper? Although HT City and HT Café carry a disclaimer, the ‘sponsored’ features are not identified, making one wonder whether all the content is sponsored. Also, not including finer details on the events – the name of an outlet/venue/channel/programme – takes away from the reader experience. So why keep it?

    We have remained true to our editorial values, ensuring that we are carrying due disclaimers for our readers whenever there are promotional features in any section, and we will continue to do so.

     

  • Vivek Khanna moves from Mint to Hindi Business, and K Venkataramani joins Mint from Bharti Walmart.

    HT Media announces new business heads for Hindustan & Mint

    By A Correspondent

     

    Vivek Khanna

    Vivek Khanna, who successfully spearheaded the Mint and ‘Ad for Equity’ businesses for the past few years, will now take on the leadership role of Head, Hindi Business at Hindustan Times.

     

    K Venkataramani has joined as the new Business Head of Mint, moving from Bharti Walmart where he was Vice President Hardlines and Home Entertainment.

     

    Mr Khanna will be reporting to Benoy Roychowdhury, Executive Director, HT Media Ltd, and Mr Venkataramani will be reporting to Rajiv Verma, CEO, HT Media Ltd.

     

  • The Hindustan Times has renewed its Gurgaon focus with increased local coverage for residents of Gurgaon.

    Hindustan Times launches Gurgaon Special

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Hindustan Times (IRS 21.83 lakh till 2012, Q4) has renewed its Gurgaon focus with increased local coverage for residents of Gurgaon. The special product for Gurgaon, which greeted residents last Friday morning, started off with a massive survey of Gurgaon’s residents, asking them about their opinion on all the issues that count to them. The responses highlight the problems that beg to be addressed- safety, sewage, power, water, roads and traffic in their city. And that is where Hindustan Times’ Gurgaon special intends to contribute – by doing in-depth stories on the various issues that affect the lives of the citizens, and helping take them to their natural conclusion.

     

    The efforts go beyond the printed newspaper. A special dedicated website has also been launched with the new edition of Gurgaon’s HT – www.htgurgaon.com, which will not only have more stories and information but also be a platform where the residents can share their views, suggestions and comments about this ongoing project to make their city truly world class.

     

    “Hindustan Times has been the voice of Delhi for the last 89 years. With the city’s expansion into Gurgaon and Noida, we’ve gone ahead and expanded our presence in these newer areas to fully cover them and seek to give our readers a flavour of the entire national capital region. The renewed focus on Gurgaon is a step towards helping the city realize its potential,” said Sanjoy Narayan, editor-in-chief, Hindustan Times.

     

    Shantanu Bhanja

    Shantanu Bhanja, Business Head and Vice-President Marketing, HT Media Ltd, said, “Gurgaon, as we all know, is a city of the future. Its breathtaking growth in the past decade has been awe-inspiring. Hindustan Times’ increased Gurgaon focus bears testimony to the growth the city has witnessed. Our Gurgaon-focused approach, in which we will take up news stories and issues that matter to the residents of Gurgaon, will benefit both readers and advertisers.”

     

    The Gurgaon Special has been launched with a multi-media campaign that affirms HT’s positioning to Gurgaon residents through the tagline “Your Gurgaon, Your Voice”.

     

  • The second edition of HT Printworks, the advertising expo organized by the HT Media Group in Mumbai last week, attracted more than 1,000 people and registered a sale of close to 300 discounted advertising packages

    HT conducts 2nd edition of Printworks

    By A Correspondent

     

    The second edition of HT Printworks, the advertising expo organized by the HT Media Group in Mumbai last week, ended on a high note with the six-day event attracting more than a thousand people and registering a sale of close to 300 discounted advertising packages.

     

    The expo, held at the Sofitel Hotel in Bandra-Kurla Complex, aimed to offer small and medium enterprises (SMEs) the advantages of highly discounted advertising deals for various supplements of Hindustan Times. It was a one-stop shop for first-time advertisers and retail advertisers to take advantage of a year-round, discounted advertising along with tips on media planning and creative for the advertisements.

     

    Several clients from small and medium enterprises across the city, both first-timers and repeaters, attended the various 90-minute sessions held every day, where they interacted with executives on the best deals for advertising.

     

    For the organizers, the response was encouraging. “HT Printworks received a tremendous response and we were overwhelmed with the number of businesses that showed interest in our packages. We saw serious decision-makers who bought the packages on the spot,” said Nitin Chaudhry, business head (West and South), HT Media Group. “The biggest benefit of HT Printworks is the simplicity of this programme which helps advertisers plan their advertising across the audiences that we offer,” he said.

     

    The event was conducted in partnership with Australian media consultancy firm ‘Boost’.

     

  • South African newsweekly Mail & Guardian’s editor-in-chief Nic Dawes is set to join Hindustan Times as chief content and editorial officer

    From Friday: Nic Dawes to join HT as chief content and editorial officer

    By A Correspondent

     

    Nicholas Dawes

    South African newsweekly Mail & Guardian’s editor-in-chief Nicholas Dawes is set to join Hindustan Times as chief content and editorial officer.

     

    Although an HT spokesperson did not confirm or deny the development, Mr Dawes has announced this to his team at M&G today. He will be leaving the paper in September.

     

    A report in the paper’s online version quotes him saying: “I have been offered a remarkable opportunity to help lead a process of change and growth at the Hindustan Times, one of the most important newspapers in a country going through momentous and fascinating changes. I look forward to putting what I have learned at the M&G to work in that new environment and on a very large scale.”

     

    Sanjoy Narayan is currently Editor-in-Chief, Hindustan Times. According to the information available with MxMIndia, Mr Dawes will report to Mr Narayan, and play the role of a ‘managing editor’ in the newsroom. Mr Narayan is likely to inform his team of the same today.

     

    Photograph taken from Nicholas Dawes’s Twitter profile
  • That's the question many are asking as the capital gets set for DNA's in May and Mumbai for Mail Today soon

    Is there room for DNA in Delhi and Mail Today in Mumbai?

     

    By Ananya Saha

     

    Mumbai-based DNA is reportedly galloping ahead towards the capital. Launched on July 30, 2005, in Mumbai, DNA (short for Daily News & Analysis) is an English broadsheet daily owned by Diligent Media Corporation, now an Essel Group company. With presence in Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Indore, the recently refreshed daily is scheduled to be in Delhi on May 13. While NCR is seen as a battleground for the English heavyweights Times of India and Hindustan Times, many English dailies do not boast of good readership numbers in this market. Does the Delhi market need yet another English daily?

     

    Sundeep Nagpal

    “I don’t think there is too much room for another English daily in Delhi, at least in terms of readership,” says Sundeep Nagpal, Founder-Director of Stratagem Media, an independent media agency. “The English daily readership as a category, went up by about 5% around the turn of the last decade, but it’s back to the level that it was at, in 2008. However, what seems to be happening in most major markets, is that they seem to be able to absorb additional circulation to some extent. So, basically this suggests fragmentation,” Mr Nagpal adds.

     

    Anwesh Bose, Senior Vice President- Media, DDB Mudra is of the view that DNA is launching Delhi more with an image perspective in mind than revenues, for now. “With the Delhi launch they would be able to call themselves a national daily, finally,” he said. DNA has plans to eventually be present in all the four metros, and then launch its financial daily too in these markets. The Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Indore editions are franchised to the Dainik Bhaskar group, formerly joint venture partner of Zee in Diligent Media.

     

    Anwesh Bose

    But to capture readers and advertisers in Delhi, DNA would have to be aggressive in its positioning, and promotions, and adopt a push and pull strategy. As Mr Nagpal viewed it, DNA will have to create a market of its own and that would mostly happen in terms of a share of time spent on reading, and not as much in terms of new readers. Meanwhile, DNA has firmed up its team in Delhi with senior journalist Saikat Datta being appointed as the Resident Editor.

     

    Mr Bose said, “DNA would have to step into Delhi with deep pockets as they need to sustain for a long period of time before they can see profitability. Their strategy ideally should be of first of all establishing themselves as a brand that stands for something.” The new daily, according to him would have to come up with interesting ways of increasing their circulation, since the old methods of free gifting on long-term subscription does not hold any value anymore.

     

    While DNA is planning to enter Delhi, the capital’s compact daily newspaper – Mail Today – is getting set for a Mumbai launch this year. Mumbai has seen a reasonable healthy growth of 40 percent in readership of English dailies over the last six years, whereas Delhi has been at about 18 percent only, vis-a-vis 2005, asserts Mr Nagpal.

     

    Having launched in Chandigarh recently, Mail Today will have to compete with Mid-Day and Mumbai Mirror in Mumbai.

     

    AS Raghunath

    AS Raghunath, a senior print media brand consultant based in the capital, is of the view that Mail Today will be able to carve the niche in Mumbai. He said, “The Chandigarh and Delhi editions of Mail Today usually have a front ad jacket. So they do have a permanent source of revenue. Content-wise, Mail Today is a mixed bag and carries an ‘exclusive’, usually every day, which no other daily has. Even Twitter and Facebook communities quote Mail Today. Also, given the fact that Mumbai is a multi-newspaper market with English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati dailies and publications, I am sure Mail Today will be able to carve a niche for itself.” He further added that while size will not be a challenge for Mail Today, any daily going in Mumbai would probably not add numerically to the market.

     

    On Mail Today’s stint in Delhi, Mr Bose remarked, “Mail Today is by no measure a success in Delhi… although, they have tried their best. It is bought more on relationship with the India Today Group than because of its content differentiation.” Mr Nagpal concurs that for a large cross-section of advertisers, Mail Today did not offer a unique/significant enough benefit.

     

    According to Mr Nagpal, “Mumbai Mirror (MM) has been able to create a huge dent in the market”. “It has stalled other competitors right where they were in their tracks and even eaten away their share considerably over the last five years, so I think MM is quite a success. But that does not mean that every new tabloid will do as well” he added. Mr Bose, however, holds a different view. He said, “Even with the might of TOI behind it, Mumbai Mirror could not make a huge dent, therefore it will be an uphill task for Mail Today to achieve success.” Mr Nagpal is of the view that Mumbai ought to be an easier market for Mail Today, for a whole lot of other reasons such as being more cosmopolitan, more adaptable, etc.

     

    The advertisers, obviously, would watch with interest as to the direction in which each of these publications grow in the respective markets. “It is sure that a lot of advertisers would get free space or space at a very marginal cost to begin with as the publications would want the advertisers to sample their product as well as it becomes a talking point with other advertisers for the publication. Also, there would be a lot of freebies during the circulation drive, so the consumer is going to make merry,” opined Mr Bose.

     

    Success or not, only time will tell. But it is sure a sign of healthy growth for the print sector. As Mr Bose concluded, “Print has seen a growth in 2012, where it grew by 9 percent compared to 2011. This year print would gain more as a lot of TV-friendly categories have shown interest in print, primarily to drive sales in a period of slowdown.”