Asokan, 46, is the former editor of Ananda Vikatan, a leading Tamil weekly published from Chennai, and now the publisher of the Vikatan group that brings out seven magazines including the flagship Ananda Vikatan.
N Ram, director of KSL and former editor-in-chief of The Hindu, has confirmed the development. He said KSL was in the process of recruiting people for the new venture.
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While sources in the board said the launch could be before the festival season, Ram did not confirm the timing, saying: "We are working on it and it will be (launched) soon."
Sources also said it was decided not go with the name Kamadhenu, proposed earlier, and KSL was looking at titles which have the word Hindu. "We may not be able to reveal the name at present," said Ram.
According to sources, Asokan was considered based on his long tenure - 26 years - with one organisation, the Vikatan group which he joined in 1987. He had good news sense and has been practical, said a KSL source. Asokan was one of the faces for the Rs 125-crore Vikatan group, which has seven magazines spanning politics, investigation, women, spiritual, agriculture, finance and auto. All put together, the publications have a circulation of around 1.4 million.
Ram said, "We require a team of Tamil journalists who have been schooled in Tamil news. That is where the expertise of Asokan comes in. He was trained by Vikatan from very young age as a student and has been there for a long time. He was the executive editor of the group and lately the publisher of Ananda Vikatan."
Referring to the culture of The Hindu group, Ram said. "Our editors are independent. They don't report to the CEO. They will be functioning within the framework, but they are independent."
According to Ram, there is a huge untapped space and market for the language newspaper segment, especially in Tamil. However, the Tamil dailies work on a different platform than the English ones and the company is taking that also into consideration. Analysts said Tamil journalism was different from English and would require more sensational stories, something from which The Hindu group has stayed away for a long time. The other major challenge would be political coverage. The advantage for KSL is its network in Tamil Nadu and its dominant position in various parts of the state and in Chennai in particular. According to analysts, English newspaper industry is stagnated, so the entry into Tamil newspaper segment will certainly help KSL. KSL is expected to launch the newspaper in major cities including Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Tiruchy, where it has its own printing press.
According to an estimate by Deloitte, Tamil Nadu accounts for 26 per cent of the overall regional print industry, estimated at Rs 2,970 crore in 2011-12. The overall market in south India is expected to grow at a compounded annual rate of 12 per cent to Rs 4,630 crore by 2016. Sandip Biswas, director of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India, said the circulation ratio in Tamil Nadu is 75:100. This means, if a vendor sells 75 English newspapers, he sells 100 Tamil dailies.
The dominant players in the Tamil daily market are Daily Thanthi, the Sun TV-owned Dinakaran, Dinamalar and Dinamani.
About 90 per cent of English dailies' revenue is accounted for by advertisements, with circulation contributing the remaining revenue. For Tamil dailies, 75 per cent of their revenue comes from advertisements, while 25 per cent is from circulation.