Sleeping with the enemy

TWO RIVAL NEWSPAPER GROUPS ARE JOINING HANDS — AND IT’S A HARBINGER OF THINGS TO COME, FORECASTS SHUCHI BANSAL

To readers of Adam M. Brandenburger and Barry J. Nalebuff’s 1997 business strategy book Co-opetition, The Times of India group’s recent announcement that it was floating a joint venture company with arch rival Hindustan Times Media Limited should not come as a surprise. The company, it seems, has taken a leaf straight out of the popular American management book which extols the virtues of "co-opetition," a term defined by the authors as a revolutionary mindset that combines co-operation and competition.
Written by professors at the Harvard Business School and the Yale School of Management, the book dwells on game theory where co-operation among rivals must replace the "business-as-war" concept, the underlying thought being co-operation generally leads to expansion of the business pie and competition to a slicing up of the pie.
But the brass at Bennett, Coleman & Co. Limited (BCCL), the company that publishes The Times of India and The Economic Times has taken the "co-opetition" concept a step forward. It plans to launch a new daily with The Hindustan Times. Says BCCL’s executive director Ravi Dhariwal: "We believe in collaborating with other media companies. We will pool in our resources — printing, circulation etc — with HT to develop and launch a high quality compact paper in Delhi." (The term compact newspaper refers to a newspaper whose content is broadsheet and the size is tabloid. It’s called compact because its smaller size is convenient for reading by commuters on trains, tubes and buses.)
The announcement has both surprised and confused the media and advertising industries. It is, after all, for the first time that arch rivals in the Delhi print media market are joining forces to start a new product. "Such deals have happened in other industries but it is a first in the print media segment," admits a Times of India group source.
To be sure, the newspaper industry’s story so far has been very different. For years newspapers remained confined to markets they were born in and fought bitter battles with competitors on their own turf. In the last few years, however, the lines of control have been breached — newspapers have moved into one another’s territories. Dainik Bhaskar of Madhya Pradesh, for instance, led the pack when it moved into Rajasthan to challenge Rajasthan Patrika. Dainik Jagran of UP is now in Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Punjab. The Times of India, meanwhile, went to Calcutta and Bangalore and Hindustan Times invaded Mumbai last year.
With increased competition over the years, non-competing newspapers started collaborating in pitching for advertising business. In the past, several regional newspapers have joined hands for ad sales. For instance, Deccan Chronicle formed Media 5 in the south to bid for business along with four other newspapers. Some time ago, Hindustan Times tied up with Amar Ujala for cross-selling space in the two papers.
Of course, nothing as major as The Times of India group-Hindustan Times joint venture to start a new product has happened before. It may not remain an isolated case for long, says media marketing consultant A.S. Raghunath, adding that "more alignments will happen and The Times of India group-Hindustan Times joint venture is just a harbinger of things to come." Adds management consultancy KPMG’s media practice head Rajesh Jain: "In the US such co-operation agreements are popular. The idea is that in a competitive environment, the market is protected to the benefit of the players." In fact, Jain insists that the print media industry will see a spate of mergers and acquisitions in the near future.
Yet many others view the Times of India group-Hindustan Times joint venture as a knee-jerk reaction to impending competition from a fresh crop of newspapers that’s slated to hit Delhi. Dainik Bhaskar and the Zee group’s one-year-old English daily, DNA, is said to be getting ready to launch its Delhi edition. The India Today group is also launching a morning newspaper. Confirms the company’s CEO Ashish Bagga: "Yes, we are looking at transforming our existing tabloid Today into the morning space."
"Clearly", says Malayala Manorama’s senior general manager and deputy editor Jayant Mammen Mathew, "the two English newspapers are scared of competition from dailies that will be launched in Delhi." Mathew says in the mature markets newspapers collaborate only on the back end — for printing, distribution or on the supply side, including sourcing newsprint at competitive rates. "I’ve never heard of them launching a joint product," he adds.
But Dhariwal dismisses the fear-of-competition theory. "We believe in working closely with people to give best value to our advertisers." As part of the same strategy, the group bought the Bangalore-based Vijay Times and Vijay Karnataka and picked up a small stake in Sandesh of Gujarat, explains Dhariwal. "We are in discussions with other newspapers as well," he adds. Dainik Jagran’s general manager Basant Rathore backs Dhariwal’s point: "The alliance is not about fear. A mature market must be segmented properly and products should be launched accordingly. The two players seem to be jointly hedging risks."
According to a Times group executive, the company is creating more choice for its consumers by launching a new product. They are particularly buoyant about the project as their experiment with Mumbai Mirror worked. The Times of India launched and distributed a free tabloid along with it when DNA was launched in Mumbai last year. The idea was that Mumbai Mirror could flank its core brand, The Times of India.
In fact, the first signs of co-operation between Delhi’s arch rivals Hindustan Times and The Times of India were seen in Mumbai. When The Hindustan Times was launched in Mumbai, The Times of India group lent its distribution infrastructure to the newspaper. The Birla-owned newspaper, in turn, printed Mumbai Mirror for The Times of India at its own printing facilities. The same alliance has been strengthened in Delhi for a joint paper. Sure, the new paper could eat into the existing dailies (The Times of India and The Hindustan Times) of the joint venture company. "But self-cannibalisation is better than allowing someone else to pick your market share and revenue," observes a Times of India group source.
Dhariwal says that had The Times of India and The Hindustan Times launched their own separate papers, as they had planned to, the two companies would have eroded each other’s resources. "This way there is no value destruction," he adds. The two companies have signed a no-poaching agreement with each other which will hold them in good stead when Hindustan Times Media launches its business paper.
If more media alliances, mergers and acquisitions are in the offing, it’s not difficult to see why. Newspaper companies need scale to survive, say experts. "It is important to have media products across languages as well as market segments," says Jagran’s Rathore. Why? Because then you can ask for the moon from advertisers, as a space selling expert puts it. Little surprise then that Dainik Jagran is ready to launch two new newspapers.
First in the pipeline is its new Hindi newspaper — tentatively and surprisingly called I. Rathore does not wish to comment on the brand name but says that the newspaper will address a completely new audience and not existing Dainik Jagran readers. Next will be a facsimile edition of the Irish paper The Independent which has a 26 per cent stake in Dainik Jagran’s publishing company. "The Independent will have a small circulation but it will give us exposure in the English speaking market as well," says Rathore.
Besides, like The Times of India, Jagran has approached several newspapers in an attempt to acquire them or pick up equity in them. About three years ago, the Dainik Bhaskar group also transcended the language barrier when it launched Divya Bhaskar in Gujarati. Last year, it ventured into the English language territory too through DNA. The group has not ruled out newspaper acquisitions either.
Observes KPMG’s Rajesh Jain: "There is a high level of interest in the media. Regional papers want to get into mainstream areas while the national guys want to go regional and exploit that market." The keenness to expand is not surprising since unlike in most other markets, newspaper advertising is growing by a healthy 13 to 15 per cent a year.
Needless to say, by early next year, action in New Delhi’s newspaper market will heat up. A slew of compact newspapers — from the Jagran group, the Times of India group and The Hindustan Times joint venture and the India Today group — would have been launched. Will it lead to overcrowding? Not really. Dhariwal says that English language newspaper penetration in Delhi and the National Capital Region (the area around the capital) is limited. One in every five households does not get an English newspaper.
If The Times of India group-Hindustan Times experiment works, others may buy the "co-opetition" theory.

Courtesy : The Telegraph, Kolkata, 22 October 2006

English Journos, Please Listen

Martin Cutts, Research Director of the UK's Plain Language Commission,is of the view that Indian journalists have a key role in improving the use of English in the country "because newspaper and broadcast English sets the standard for most of the population."

In his foreword to Jyoti Sanyal's latest book - Indlish, Cutts gives piece of his mind to Indian English journalists.

He insists that our journalists should do four things:

One, dump the Victorian verbosity.

Two, "Regularly write about the incoherent language of the law, government officials and companies, and show how it damages the interests of consumers and businesses." How will that help? "Public derision is a powerful weapon," Cutts reminds the doubters.

Three, "Spend at least an hour a week reading quality dailies of the UK, imbibing their often fresh phrasing and clarity of expression." This must be easy, more frequently than Cutts suggests, with the help of the Net.

Lastly, abandon your love of cliché and "tap into those sources of vivid, precise description that exist in the creative writing of India's regional languages."

Good Coverage by Kannada Dailies

The special assembly session at Belgaum was very important in many respects. All the Kannada dailies have taken it very seriously and sent in thier half a dozen correspondents to Belgaum to cover the session extensively.

Vijay Karnataka and Samyukta Karnataka brought out special supplements on this accasion on the first day.

All the Kannada dailies had devoted atleast four to five full pages every day.The coverage by Vijay Karnataka and Kannada Prabha was commendable. They had a wonderful mix of reportage on different facets of the special session.

At last, Vijay Karnataka came out a front runner.

Prajavani, as usual, remained a gazeteer, only compiling facts making it dull and insipid.

Interestingly, the major English dailies had sent their correspondents but the space provided was abysmally limited.

On the opening day of the session, they put it on page one. Later they pushed it to the inside pages. English papers have not treated this special session so important.

What a pity! Any way this is not a Lakme India fashion show!!

When Raja Rao dies

Hassan Raja Rao is no more.

Usually readers wanted to know how did Kannada newspapers cover his demise. All the newspapers have treated this story as a usual obit but Vijay Karnataka.

VK has devoted one full page featuring his childhood, education, family matters and his contribution to literature. It is a deserving tribute and gesture to a great writer by "Samastha Kannadigara Hemme"

Other Kannada dailies including English newspapers have utterly failed in this regard.

Well done Vijay Karnataka!

What happened to Churumuri?

Churumuri.wordpress.com has been surprisingly silent about Vijay Karnataka and Vijay Times after they were acquired by the Times of India group. Before the takeover the Churumuri posted atleast one story a day.

Some of the stories kicked of heated debates among Kannadigas. One story, even attracted as many as 325 comments from the bloggers. All of a sudden, Churumuri mum on the post-aquisition developments.

The grapevine has it that the editor of Churumuri is likely to join Vijay Times as its editor and hence no story.

In fact that's the real churumuri to talk about.

Why do you play it up?

Kannada Prabha has started a new trend.

Play up the story!

No matter how important the story is, it plays up without blinking eyelids. Kannada Prabha has to fill up the large space due to paucity of advertisements. That's the reason for playing up, it appears. But if you go by the merit of the story, play up is, most of the time, not necessary. When two or three columns do, why do spread it for 7 or 8?

Kannada Prabha carried the story in 7 columns with screaming headline when a senior Congress leader C.K.Jaffer Sharief attended the BSP public function addressed by Mayavati.

Do you agree this kind of journalism?

It's the turn of Mid-Day

Bangalore has a one more daily - Mid Day.

It's always pleasure reading more and more newspapers.

Mid Day has a significant circulation in Mumbai. If two issues are any indications, the paper hardly evoke interest in the minds of Bangaloreans. The paper is crammed with photoes of Models, fashion designers and people from high society. It has very less of ethos of the city. It is the bane of English Journalism. Better look the content before putting the big foot out.

Rumour, rumour everywhere

Rumour mills work over time. This is true in the media circle. The latest rumour around is that Printers (Mysore) Limited which publishes Prajavani, Deccan Herald, Sudha and Mayura is for sale. And the buyer is none other than media gaint Hindustan Times.

The Hindustan Times (HT) top honchos have already conducted three rounds of meeting with owners of PV and DH. They have also visited their Hubli and Mysore editions.

If it is true, another media house is also going in the way of Vijayananda Printers Limited (VPL) which publishes Vijay Karnataka, Vijay Times and Usha Kiran. Recently VPL was acquired by Times of India group.

Lost Innocence

The media have a right and a duty to investigate into and comment on the integrity and efficiency of police investigation of crime. They have no right to usurp the functions of the court and pronounce on the suspect's guilt. That is contempt of court and a violation of his right to a free trial; a competing, but overriding, right and public interest says A.G.Noorani

For full article read :
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1729104,00120001.htm

It's less than four thousands only!!

The circulation of Lankesh Patrike, edited by Gowri Lankesh is less than four thousand copies only! The print order,which is in possession of Patrakarta, dated 5 July 2006 is 3750 copies!

Recently, while talking to her, Gowri Lankesh claimed the circulation has reached to 40,000 copies. When 'Patrakarta' investigated with the Rajhans Enterprises where the paper is printed,confirmed that the circulation figure for the latest issue is 3750 only.

This is the print order, please mind it. It does not mean that all printed copies will be sold out. She gets back half of them unsold every week. Next week, the figure may drop further.

Really, its near death of a tabloid!!

Wrong name, this time editor's!

Lankesh Patrike, edited by Gowri Lankesh, a senior journalist who worked for couple of upcountry newspapers published the name of the Editor of a daily newspaper wrong.

It is not uncommon newspapers publish the name of the persons incorrectly. But Lankesh Patrike published Venkatanarayana, editor of Usha Kiran, a Kannada daily as Venkataramana Bhat!!

What a nonsense!!