Hindi Media

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...

The Times of India group is said to be preparing for the launch of Hindi version of Economic Times from Delhi. However the details are still under wraps and newspaper will see the light of the day somewhere in March next year. This will be second effort from a major Hindi newspaper group. Amar Ujala was the first one which came out with Karobaar however it closed down. At present Hindi business weekly Vyapaar is being published from Mumbai and Nafa Nuksaan from Jaipur.

Nidheesh Tyagi resident editor of Dainik Bhaskar, Chandigarh has moved on to Times of India group. He had a fairly long stint with the Bhaskar. Earlier he was with Rashtriya Sahara. He has taken over as Editor Mumbai Mirror.

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...