Hindi Media

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.

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,...

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...

The Media Research Users’ Council (MRUC) has released the data for the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2008 Round 1. There aren’t any surprises in the numbers this time as well. The top 10 Hindi dailies see Dainik Jagran topping the charts again with a total readership of 566 lakh. Dainik Bhaskar follows with a total readership of 319 lakh. Amar Ujala is at No. 3 with a total readership of 296 lakh; Hindustan is on the fourth spot with a total readership of 252 lakh, and Rajasthan Patrika is at No. 5 with a total readership of 137 lakh. Punjab Kesari, with a total readership of 111 lakh, is in the sixth position, followed by Aj at No. 7 with a total readership of 74 lakh. Navbharat Times shares the eighth position with Navabharat (Mah/Chh), both having a total readership of 52 lakh. Prabhat Khabar is at No. 10 with a total readership of 50 lakh. The top 10 English dailies see The Times of India lead the charge with a total readership of 136 lakh for all its editions put together. The Hi...

Hindi newspaper space is getting more and more crowded with each passing day. Hindustan is slated to launch three more editions from Chandigarh, Allahabad and Dehradun . Sources in Allahabad say the preparations are on and edition will be launched sometime in May. Amar Ujala is said to be eyeing Bhopal. Madhya Pradesh based Hindi daily Raj Express is getting ready for the launch of Jabalpur and Gwalior editions as well as Hindi news channel in the month of July. Indore based Hindi newspaper Nai Dunia is all set to revamp its Bhopal edition and give it a new look. After its initial success in Jaipur Rajasthan Patrika is preparing to launch another edition of Daily News from Bhopal. Dainik Jagran is busy working out the nitty and gritty of launching three more editions of its tabloid I-next from Gorakhpur , Patna and Ranchi . The rumour mills in Jaipur suggest that the city may see the launch of I-next first and Dainik Jagran later. The talks of a possible tie-up between Ja...

Hindi newspaeprs are on a recruitment drive. Earlier it was Prabhat Khabar and now is the turn of Inext tabloid from the Jagran group. Even Bhasha Hindi arm of news agency PTI is looking for people. For Inext you can send your resumes at editor@inext.co.in , for Prabhat Khabar at jobs@prabhatkhabar.in and for Bhasha at General Manager (Administration), Press Trust of India, 4 Sansad Marg, New Delhi-110001. Mention Bhasha on the envelope.

This has been received in response to an earlier post Prabhat Khabar loses three to Sanmarg on this blog as a comment from blogger Magadh. Within last three months Prabhat Khabar's, Patna edition has lost two men each from reporting, circulation and advertisement, three from accounts and four from editorial to other newspapers. Among them are included circulation, accounts and buisiness head.

Prabhat Khabar's Patna edition is said to have lost its three men to Sanmarg. Who have switched over there after the recruitment drive for Patna edition of Kolkata based Hindi daily began.

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,...