Hindi Media

Amar Ujala, the fourth largest Hindi daily in terms of readership, is set to get a strategic partner. One of India’s largest regional media groups will acquire an 18 per cent stake in Amar Ujala Publications Ltd (AUPL), the company that publishes the newspaper, it is learnt. Amar Ujala has been in the news for the past two years, ever since private equity firm DE Shaw, which had picked up an 18 per cent stake in AUPL in 2006 for Rs 117 crore, sought an exit and a return of around 25% on its investment. DE Shaw was insistent that AUPL either lists itself or sells to a buyer identified by the private equity firm. When AUPL resisted, DE Shaw dragged the company to court. After a prolonged and messy battle, AUPL agreed to pay DE Shaw for its 18 per cent stake. AUPL has ever since been looking for a strategic investor. The company valued itself at around Rs 850 crore. Subhash Chandra’s Zee Group entered the fray recently, and there were some rumours that Amar Ujala’s promoters wo...

hindimedia1@gmail.com Updated list of recent and proposed launches is as follows: Metro7days (daily) Mumbai May 22 Lokmat Samachar (daily) (Jalgaon) May 15 (may change) Lokmat Samachar (daily) (Pune) Date not finalised Lokmat Samachar (daily) (Mumbai) Date not finalised Hamwatan (weekly) Bhopal June 2011 Tehelka Hindi (magazine) National edition June 2011 Swabhiman Times (daily) Gwalior Date not finalised Hindustan (daily) Moradabad July 2011 (proposed) Status update: Land purchased Hindustan (daily) Aligarh Date not finalsied Dainik Bhaskar (daily) Dhanbad April 17 (launched) Hindustan Jobs (weekly) National edition May 8

hindimedia1@gmail.com So after Delhi now its turn of Mumbai. The financial capital of India is going to witness a turf war among new and old players of Hindi media. On 22nd May Metro Daily News India Private Limited will launch its 24 page tabloid Metro7Days. The new player has plans to launch 14 editions from different cities. The daily will be priced at 2/-. Another player waiting in the wings is Lokmat Samachar. After launching its Jalgaon edition on May 15 it plans to enter Pune and subsequently Mumbai. Lokmat group which publishes leading Marathi daily Lokmat and Lokmat Times in English seems to have grandiose plans for its Hindi newspaper. Group editor of the Lokmat Samachar Girish Mishra has already been transferred to Pune from where he is supposed to give final shapes to his strategy of taking the newspaper to Mumbai. At present there are four editions of Lokmat Samachar which will go up to seven after the launch of three more ediions. It is interesting to note that the leader...

Courtesy: livemint.com Anushree Chandran, anushree.m@livemint.com Living Media India Ltd, which publishes print titles such as India Today, Cosmopolitan and Harper’s Bazaar, among others, is set to launch a Hindi broadsheet Aaj Tak in the next six months. The group operates a Hindi news channel by the same name which is over 10 years old. The group has also set its sights on the southern market. It is gearing up to launch a Malayalam daily that would compete with Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi in the Kerala market. A team is already working on the project. A Gujarati news magazine (separate from India Today in Gujarati) is also on the cards. While a senior India Today executive confirmed these developments on condition of anonymity, Ashish Bagga, CEO, Living Media, said there was nothing in the offing immediately. He declined to elaborate further. The Malayalam paper and the Gujarati magazine will be published under the newly created corporate entity under Prabhu Chawla, former edit...

Sources in Dainik Bhaskar say that the launch of Ranchi edition has been delayed by almost two months. Recently interviews were conducted there and nearly 70 people reached to take part in it of which 10 are said to be from Prabhat Khabar. Rashtriya Sahara is also said to be reconsidering its plans for a Ranchi launch.

Anand Pandey resident editor of Nai Dunia,Jabalpur is said to be moving to Dainik Bhaskar as state head of Maharashtra where the group plans to launch few more editions. At present they have an edition at Nagpur. On the other hand Hamara Mahanagar and Navbharat are also on an expansion spree in Maharashtra. Mumbai based Hindi newspaper group Hamara Mahanagr plans to launch editions from Pune and Nasik. Navbharat is also planning to have an edition from Nasik. This will add to its already existing editions at Mumbai, Nagpur and Pune.

There are rumblings of dissent in Dainik Bhaskar, Jaipur. RE of the Jaipur edition of the newspaper Indusekhar Pancholi has already put in his papers. Few more names are doing the rounds. These rumours have gain credence in the light of news coming in that Yashwant Vyas will quit by 15 Feb. However it could not be cofirmed as his office is denying them as merely rumour.

The blow hot blow cold relationship between Ravi Prakash and inext management has finally ended. He is moving on to Dainik Bhaskar as deputy editor and will be based at Bhopal for next three months. Till now he was DNE of inext's Agra edition.

Excecutive editor of Amar Ujala Govind Singh has put in his papers. Singh is moving to Hindustan where he will be add to the long list of editros who have moved on to from Amar Ujala after the exit of Shashisekhar. They include Pratap Somvanshi, Sudhansu Srivastava, Rajendra Tiwari, KK Upadhyaya and Ashok Pandey. This development comes in the wake of Narendrapal Singh joining as excecutive editor at Amar Ujala. Yashwant Vyas who is at present with Dainik Bhaskar name is doing the rounds in Jaipur and Noida as new group editor of Amar Ujala, however Bhaskar management is said to be in talks with him so as to convince him about remaining with the group and take on new responsibilites. On the other hand Ajay Upadhyaya who was till now denying any association with Amar Ujala is said to have joined in as consulting editor.

Reports coming in from Jaipur say Yashwant Vyas editor of Aha Zindagi, magazine from the house of Dainik Bhaskar is quitting the group. While sources in Amar Ujala, Nodia say that he will be joining the newspaper as Group Editor on Feb 8. If you have any other information can mail it to us at hindimedia1@gmail.com

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,...

Rajasthan Patrika is all set to expand its footprint across MP. Jabalpur edition will soon be launched where it may face another new entrant in the form of People's Samachar. Haribhoomi, Raj Express, Nai Dunia and Dainik Bhaskar are already present there. Usha Srivastava from Delhi bureau of the Patrika was asked to join as resident editor of the new edition. However she put down her papers and went on to join Amar Ujala. The search is on for a someone else to takeover the reigns.

Vijay Narayan Singh who resigned from i-next few days ago is going to join Dainik Bhaskar's Raipur edition as DNE. Prior to joining i-next he was with Hindustan. Another DNE from i-next has tendered his resignation. Sumant Pandey who was till now with bilingual daily's Allahabad edition has resigned. However his next destination is not known yet. Earlier he was also with Hindustan.

Hindustan will launch its Bareli edition on September 1 thus extending its reach to Rohilkhand region of UP and Kumayun of Uttarakhand. Anil Bhaskar is going to be the Resident Editor of the said edition who was earlier with Rashtriya Sahara. On the other hand Dainik Bhaskar is all set to relaunch its Delhi edition. Some senior hands from other media organisations have joined the group.

DB Star tabloid from Dainik Bhaskar has entered Rajasthan. After Bhopal its second edition has been launched from Jodhpur. At present it is being circulated free of cost with Dainik Bhaskar. With the launch of DB Star a new price war has begun among the market leaders. Bhaskar and Rajasthan Patrika both have brought down the cover price of city edition to Rs 1.75.

Sources in the Dainik Bhaskar say that the group is planning to lanch its tabloid DB Star from Jodhpur. It is already being published from Bhopal. Rajasthan head Navneet Gurjar and one of the key persons of the DB Star is said to be camping in Jodhpur. The city is one of the proposed sites for IIT Rajasthan and the home district of State CM Ashok Gehlot.

Market is showing signs of improvement and thus media industry is also trying to get out of the slumber of past few months. Restructuring excercise in major media houses is almost over. Now's the time for expansion or finding new ways to hold on the existing territory. Patrika and Bhaskar have almost completed this excercise in Rajasthan. Sources say now Patrika may now look towards expansion in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. Gwalior and Raipur editions are said to be in the pipeline. People's group has set 31 July as the launch date of its Indore edition. Jabalpur may follow afterwards. Dainik Jagran has already launched its national edition. I-next from the same group is looking towards launching Noida and Gurgaon editions. Hindustan has almost completed the recruitment for its upcoming Bareli edition and Gorakhpur will follow afterwards. Prabhat Khabar has relaunched its Patna edition and is now looking towards improving its existing editions in Jharkhand. Smaller players l...

Press Release Chennai, June 16, 2008: Dainik Bhaskar announced today that it has signed on MS Dhoni as its brand ambassador. Rajiv Jaitly, President, Ad Sales & Marketing, said, "These are exciting times for 'Bhaskar' as the brand continues its growth across markets. With its geographical spread covering the newly emerged markets of India in tier-II and tier-III towns, Dainik Bhaskar was seeking a personality or icon who would best project the ethos and core of the brand to its various stakeholders. In Dhoni, we have managed to find a near perfect fit. He is a shining real life example of what an ambitious individual can do; he oozes a high degree of confidence, adapts to new situations very fast, has demonstrated innovative thinking and more importantly, has shown how the relentless pursuit of excellence can make a person from a small town emerge a champion." Adds Rajiv Jaitly, "Dhoni has an attitude towards the game similar to what we have toward publishin...

This news appeared first at www.exchange4media.com The Hindi heartland is witness to an intensifying print battle. Bhopal has emerged as the latest battlefield for readership with NavDunia from NaiDunia Group, Patrika from Rajasthan Patrika, and now DB Star from Bhaskar launching in quick succession. Following the Bhopal launch, DB Star is eyeing an Indore launch. This would be followed by forays into markets like Amritsar, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Raipur, Bilaspur, Jaipur and Jodhpur. DB Star is the fifth title from DB Corp, which calls it the ‘general entertainment channel’ of newspapers. The other brands from DB Corp include Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar, DNA and the forthcoming Business Bhaskar. Sanjeev Kotnala, AVP & National Head, Communication, DB Corp, explained, “Readers’ tastes are changing and their expanse along with the hunger for news itself is being accentuated. DB Star captures this latent unserviced need of a reader in Tier II towns. DB Star is a result of ...

hindimedia1@gmail.com Hindi print media space will very soon be witness to tabloid war among the major newspaper groups. Dainik Jagran and Amar Ujala are already in the fray with i-next and compact. Dainik Bhaskar after the launch of Patrika from Bhopal has started publication of DB Gold. Ajay Agarwal who broke away from Amar Ujala is now spearheding the assault in the western Uttar Pradesh with his own tabloid DLA. He is all set to enter newer territories including editions from Lucknow and Kanpur. Hindustan and Rajasthan Patrika are the two major groups who have kept away from this war and were busy expanding into newer areas with their broadsheet products. However Hindustan after the launch of i-next from Patna and the proposed launch from Ranchi is mulling over the idea of launching a tabloid, which may be named, Spark. Dainik Jagran’s tabloid i-next has made its presence felt in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Bihar. At present it is being published simultaneously from Kanpur, Luck...