Zee to launch English paper

MEDIA SPACE IS GETTING CROWDED

Subhash Chandra's Zee Network is planning to launch an English daily. Chandra is set to have a strategic partnership with the Dainik Bhaskar group for a foray into the newspaper business.

No decision has been taken as yet on whether the newspaper will be a general daily or a financial daily. Sources said while Zee was likely to launch a general newspaper, the possibility of a financial daily hitting the stands could not be ruled out either.

The Zee group will be testing the waters by launching the newspaper first in Mumbai. If the newspaper takes off, it will be launched elsewhere in the country.

A Zee group spokesperson said he had no comments to offer. But sources close to the development told Business Standard: "The alliance with the Dainik Bhaskar group provide the Zee group with a national network and infrastructure for launching its newspaper business."

The Madhya Pradesh-based Dainik Bhaskar group now runs a Hindi newspaper and a Gujarati daily (Divya Bhaskar). Dainik Bhaskar director Girish Aggarwal was overseas and so was unavailable for comments, as were other senior group executives. But one executive said the group would also be launching a Gujarati daily in Mumbai.

Another top source said: "The decision comes at a time when the Zee group has the right professional manager to spearhead its foray into this highly competitive segment."

He was referring to Pradip Guha, the former Times of India president, who is now the CEO of Zee Network. Some observers speculate that Guha is behind the Zee group's move into the English language press.

Mumbai now has four general dailies (The Times of India, Indian Express, Asian Age, The Free Press Journal), two afternoon tabloids (Mid-Day and Afternoon) and four financial dailies. By the end of this year, three or four more are widely expected to be launched.

According to a senior Bennett, Coleman executive, the Mumbai print market generates some Rs 1,500 crore in advertising for all newspapers in India. Bennett, Coleman & Company, publishers of The Times of India and The Economic Times and other publications, accounts for between 45 per cent and 50 per cent of this market.

But some like Arvind Sharma, chairman and chief executive officer of Leo Burnett, the advertising and media buying agency, argue that there is scope for five more English newspapers in Mumbai.

Says Sharma: "Publications, whether they are newspapers or magazines, as product categories, are grossly under-developed and under-differentiated, particularly when compared with those in international markets. With foreign direct investment (FDI) policies for the print media being liberalised, we are expecting a sharper segmentation."