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Decks
cleared for Indian Express to launch IPO towards end of 2005
|
| The Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd, a loss-making publishing company having several newspapers and magazines across three regions of the country, has announced its plans to launch an IPO by the end of this year. More... |
 |
National
Readership Survey, 2005 standings published |
| The
National Readership Study Council has published the latest standings
of newspapers' and magazines' readers. View
the tables: |
 |
Readership
figures being challenged |
| Just
after the release of NRS 2005 (National Readership Survey, 2005),
the Indian Express Group has taken the National Readership Studies
Council to court over the readership numbers of its Marathi daily,
Loksatta. A suit has been filed in the Bombay High Court and NRSC
is expected to revert within a month. More... |
 |
Co-operative
bank proposed for small and medium newspapers
|
| The
Small and Medium Newspapers Committee of the Indian Newspaper Society
(INS) has proposed the setting up of a co-operative bank (members'
bank) in the country to facilitate increased cash flow to small
and medium newspapers for their expansion plans and regular banking
facilities. More... |
|
Wire
agency PTI revises rates for services to periodicals
|
| The
Press Trust of India has decided to offer exclusive services to
periodicals at a much lower subscription rates. More... |
|
GR8!
TV Magazine ties up with web portal |
| India's
newest TV magazine GR8! has tied up with web portal Rediff.com to
provide content on both Bollywood and television, ranging from various
alerts to video clips of serials, on mobile phones. More... |
|
NEW
LAUNCHES |
| Times-BBC
JV, Worldwide Media, launches Indian edition of Top Gear More... |
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|
 |
|
 |
|
| The
flow of foreign direct investment into Indian media businesses is
likely to surge over the next couple of years, with China announcing
that it had frozen approvals for news organisations and foreign
satellite broadcasters entering its market and that it would exercise
tighter control over the country's cultural life. The announcement from Beijing said the government would strengthen restrictions on foreign television programs, books, newspapers and performances in an effort to safeguard the county's culture industry and ensure the industry's healthy development. The document prohibits foreign investors from establishing or running news organizations, broadcasting stations, TV stations and film manufacturing companies, performing troupes, film imports, exports and distribution. The announcement, of August 4, was jointly issued by five ministries including the Ministry of Culture and State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. While there was no clarification on approvals that were already issued, the document said, "Import of cultural products contrary to regulations will be punished according to the circumstances, and in serious cases the import license will be revoked. In the near future, there will be no more approvals for setting up cultural import agencies." IMO commentary: In some ways, China has always been an uncertain place to do business in. Like with any other business, publishers too had made China their first destination in emerging economies because of its vibrant growth rate and size of the market. This announcement is expected to significantly influence international publishers' decisions on making larger investments in an emerging economy. In the wake of this development, the key beneficiary of FDI in publishing businesses is likely to be India, who liberalized her policies recently for investments in the publishing sector. On his recent visit to India, one publisher from Europe, whose b2b magazine publishing company has presence in several European nations, told IMO that he did explore possibilities of setting up a JV in China, but the environment didn't seem to be quite "comfortable". |
|
|
Two
recent IPOs of publishing companies Deccan Chronicle and HT Media
have received overwhelming response on listings at the stock markets
in India. Deccan Chronicle, which is already taking steps to consolidate its position in the southern states of the country as a publisher of English daily, shot up by 15.80 per cent in a single session on Monday last. The trigger for its stocks to rise came from the announcement that the company would consider various organic and inorganic growth options. Over 823,000 shares of the company changed hands. "The company was in talks with a few dailies in the south for acquisition in the last couple of months. The meeting next week is likely to give shape to these plans making the company a major player," a dealer said. The company
recently acquired control of Asian Age Holdings, which publishes
the newspaper, Asian Age, in five cities. Deccan Chronicle Holdings
launched the Chennai edition of its English daily in March 2005. |
 |
|
The Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd, a loss-making publishing company having several newspapers and magazines across three regions of the country, has announced its plans to launch an IPO by the end of this year. The company reportedly has already identified the merchant bankers for the issue. However, no details are yet available on size of the IPO and the price band at which the shares are likely to be offered. |
|
|
Just after the release of NRS 2005 (National
Readership Survey, 2005), the Indian Express Group has taken the
National Readership Studies Council to court over the readership
numbers of its Marathi daily, Loksatta. A suit has been filed in
the Bombay High Court and NRSC is expected to revert within a month.
This is one of the few cases where Indian readership figures produced by a research agency are being challenged in a court of law. This is particularly significant in the context of lack of comprehensive statistical information available on the Indian publishing sector. NRSC did face problems when the data was initially released and, consequently, a number of publications like Business Standard were withdrawn on account of a high margin of errors. Vaidehi Thakar, Director, Corporate Legal, Indian Express Group issued a statement saying "The Loksatta figures NRS threw up are completely misrepresentative. The report says we have lost over one-third of readers, but in fact, our circulation figures have gone up, though marginally." |
|
|
The Small and Medium Newspapers Committee of
the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) has proposed the setting up
of a co-operative bank (members' bank) in the country to facilitate
increased cash flow to small and medium newspapers for their expansion
plans and regular banking facilities.
INS has approached the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for assistance in setting up a cooperative bank under INS, which could be used by the small and medium newspapers. Sunil Dang, chairman of the committee, said recently that the body will make some recommendations to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and to various other statutory authorities to pursue the interests of small and medium newspapers. Amongst the demands made by the body is a verification cell to be constituted to verify the circulation figures of small and medium publications and post them on the Internet, as an attempt to publicise authenticated figures of publications in the country. The verification cell, comprising chartered accountants, publishers, advertisers, officials from ministries, private firms and industry intellectuals, should be an independent body on the lines of the Press Council and the verified data posted by them should be recognized by all government bodies. INS has approached the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for assistance in setting up a newsprint cooperative bank under INS, which could be used by the small and medium newspapers. |
|
|
The Press
Trust of India has decided to offer exclusive services to periodicals
at a much lower subscription rates. An Indian language (non-English) periodical can now avail of the agency's Bhasha and Photo services at a package rate of Rs 7,960 per month or only Bhasha service at Rs 1,900 per month, which is 50 per cent cheaper than the earlier rates. Special packages for the periodicals have been introduced, wherein they can access news for last 30 days and also avail photo service for last seven days. The English news service from PTI would be available to periodicals at a revised rate of Rs 7,900 from the earlier Rs 18,300 per month. A new service is also being launched by the agency in collaboration with WorldSpace satellite radio, where the clients can get specific stories catering to specific region at a rate between Rs 8,000 and Rs 9,000 p.m. |
|
|
India's
newest TV magazine GR8! has tied up with web portal Rediff.com to
provide content on both Bollywood and television, ranging from various
alerts to video clips of serials, on mobile phones. Through the technologies provided by the web portal, mobile users can access a range of mobile alerts on TV serials, celebrity chats, polling and star tit-bits content either through GPRS or by sending an SMS. Rediff.com India Ltd, issued a statement saying that "This partnership is a first in the series of many such associations that we are planning to have. Currently, mobile subscribers access a variety of entertainment related content over SMS, GPRS, WAP and Voice. We will leverage our online expertise to provide engaging and innovative entertainment content over mobile phones." Industry experts view this partnership as one of the many to come, as consumers get more tech savvy and mobile-oriented with mobile phones being ubiquitous with the generation Y lifestyle. |
|
|
BBC's Top Gear among some new launches in the last
one month. More: As per ABC certificate, JAM has a circulation of around 32,000
copies and caters to around 40 cities and towns across India.
Till date, Delhi only contributed to 1,000 copies in the magazines
in the total circulation figure. But with a Delhi edition now,
the publication plans to increase their print run to 10,000
in the city. The publication has also introduced a special package
of Rs 99 for a one-year subscription, coinciding with the Delhi
launch. |
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