Hindi Media

Courtsey: afaqs.com Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar plans to enter new markets to strengthen the brand and expand its reach. It is poised to enter Bihar and Jharkhand, rolling out editions in the two states in the next six-eight months. As per R2 of IRS 2009, Dainik Bhaskar, the No. 2 publication of the country, has recorded a marginal decline in total readership for the second consecutive round. In the latest round, the Hindi daily lost about 5.9 lakh readers, while in R1, it had lost about 2.8 lakh readers. However, the daily had added about 33 lakh readers in R1 and R2, 2008, and has shown a growth in readership in both these rounds of IRS. Currently, its total readership stands at 3.3 crore. According to sources, the project is in the planning phase at the moment. The group is negotiating the land deals and simultaneously studying the market. It is also learnt that the project will be taken to the next level after the launch of its IPO, which is expected to come out next month. Earlier,...

Jagran Prakashan Ltd has launched the eighth edition of I-next in Patna on May 27. The ninth edition of I-next is slated to hit Ranchi newsstands in the third week of June. The bilingual compact daily is already present in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Commenting on the new editions, Shailesh Gupta, Director, Jagran Prakashan Ltd, said, “Like most of the mini-metros of India, Patna and Ranchi are also experiencing a major change and a feel-good factor, thanks to the developmental activities in this part of the world. There is a new found confidence and urge among people to live the good life with players like MS Dhoni being so successful at the highest level. All this further fuels the urge to spend more, thus catalysing the economic activities. So, the time is ripe for publishing a daily like I-next, which caters to the segment that is youthful in their approach towards life and is ready to experiment – be it news, lifestyle, trends, fashion, housing or food.” Alok Sanwal, Project He...

Inext tabloid from the Dainik Jagran group may have an edition from Patna in the near future. It is being said after Dehradun and Gorakhpur the tabloid may be on its course to travel into Bihar and capture the mind of the youth there.

Rashtriya Sahara (Hindi daily) which entered Patna with a bang now seems to be losing steam. Within few days of its launch it was able to find a toehole in the market largely dominated by Hindustan. Dainik Jagran, Prabhat Khabar and Aaj are other major players. Rashtriya Sahara lead in Danapur initially. Now the insiders say initial euphoria is over and circulation has fell by one third. Plagued by discontent among the employees transferred from Delhi edition path to recovery seems difficult. In between Prabhat Khabar has changed the look and feel of the newspaper to take on the competition. Hindustan has brought back Sunil Dubey as editor. Hindi dailies in Patna are busy restrategising their moves as few more players are planning to jump in the fray.