Sanjay Hazari, the Chandigarh-based business head of The Tribune, the number one English daily of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, was in Delhi last weekend for a board meeting of the paper that's owned by a trust. The members of the board, it is believed, reached an understanding that The Tribune should diversify into television and education.
Hazari is tightlipped on the diversification plans (a deal for a Punjabi news channel with Network 18's IBN7 fell through earlier) but admits that the newspaper that was in the red three years ago is on a roll. It's profitable and driving into new markets.
The Tribune, which ventured into Jammu recently, is now eyeing Uttarakhand. Editions from centres like Dehradun and Roorkee are a possibility. "Besides Uttarakhand, we are looking at one more state," he says, without naming it. "With that, we will be in seven states," adds Hazari.
To expand its existing editions, the 117-year-old Dyal Singh Majithia Trust has already bought new printing machines from Manugraph and Orient. However, just three years ago when Hazari joined the paper, the story was not so exciting. The Tribune was losing market share and advertising to Hindustan Times and The Times of India, which entered the Punjab/Haryana market in 2000. While its market share shrunk from 75 per cent to 50 per cent, it incurred a net loss of about Rs 2 crore in 2004-2005.
Hazari claims that poor productivity and high manpower cost