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...

The Noida office of Amar Ujala these days is witnessing hectic activity as the newspaper gears to launch new editions and is in the race for acquiring stake in Ranchi based newspaper group Prabhat Khabar. Group editor Shashishekhar has been on a foregin visit a month ago. The visit as indiers claim was to garner foregin direct investment (FDI) to fund its aggressive expansion plans. It is said that there will be infusion of fresh capital in the group through foregin direct investment by January.

The fate of Prabhat Khabar’s new ownership will be decided in a few days. The big newspaper groups in the race — Jagran Prakashan, Dainik Bhaskar, Bennett, Coleman & Co., Amar Ujala and ABP — to buy Prabhat Khabar have apparently bid between Rs 50 crore and Rs 115 crore. Media industry sources say that the UP-based Amar Ujala, owned by Atul Maheshwari and Anil Agrawal, is among the highest bidders. Since the Jhawars of Usha Martin declined comment, the bid estimates are guesstimates and not precise numbers. An executive of one of the bidders says that the paper should not be valued at more than Rs 55-60 crore because the latest readership surveys show the paper trailing behind Hindustan in Jharkhand. With a readership of 10.77 lakh, Hindustan has marched ahead of Prabhat Khabar’s readership of 9.86 lakh. Dainik Jagran with a readership of 7.73 lakh is not far behind. Others point out that Prabhat Khabar’s circulation is still its strong point. Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) figu...

Shuchi Bansal / New Delhi December 09, 2006 Its editor used a novel strategy to completely reinvent it, but what’s ironic is that what began as a search for funds to expand may now result in a change in ownership. Two months ago, the editor of Jharkhand’s leading Hindi daily Prabhat Khabar approached the newspaper’s owners, the Usha Martin group, with a proposal to start new editions in Chhattisgarh and to re-launch the paper in Patna. The reason was simple. Prabhat Khabar had been feeling the heat of competition from rivals such as Hindustan from HT Media Ltd and Dainik Jagran from Kanpur’s Jagran Prakashan Group. Standing still was not an option. The Jhawars who run Usha Martin responded that the newspaper company could sell equity to raise the money for expansion. Harivansh — Prabhat Khabar’s editor of 18 years — was pleased with the reply. Since 1996, the paper had been running on its own steam without financial support from Usha Martin, which is a wire rope and speciality steel ma...

Leading Hindi daily of Jharkhand Prabhat Khabar amidst reports of a buyout by another leading Hindi daily Amar Ujala is all set to revamp its Patna edition. There are plans to increase number of pages from 14 to 20 (16+4). Machines have already arrived in the city. The daily has been striving hard for the second slot in the already crowded market after the launch of Rashtriya Sahara from Patna. Hindustan's Patna edition has already gone for a makeover to preserve its number one position.

DNA Business Bureau Sunday, December 03, 2006 20:07 IST NEW DELHI: Prabhat Khabar, a Hindi daily published from Jharkhand, is expected to finalise a deal for offloading a significant stake by December 15, according to sources. Among those keen to pick up a stake are Bennett Coleman, HT Media, Dainik Bhaskar (one of the promoters of DNA), Dainik Jagran and Amar Ujala. A couple of foreign investors are also in the fray. The potential investors have already put in `non-binding’ bids, sources added. Prabhat Khabar vice-president KK Goenka declined to offer any comments on the proposed deal. But, it is learnt that merchant banker Edelwiess is on the job, to identify the best partner for the newspaper, which requires funds to expand its business and also launch two FM radio stations shortly at Jamshedpur and Ranchi. Recently, Edelweiss had advised Karnataka-based Vijay Times for its deal with The Times of India. Company officials refused to divulge the level of stake that would be offloaded,...