It has been a mixed bag for Malayalam publications in IRS 2010 Q1. Three of the top five Malayalam dailies have witnessed growth in the latest round. Malayala Manorama continues to dominate among magazines with three of the top five Malayalam magazines from its stable.
Jagran Prakashan Ltd (JPL) on May 5, 2010 agreed to buy out the publishing business of Mid-Day Multimedia Ltd in a 7:2 share-swap deal. For every seven shares held in Mid-Day Multimedia, the shareholders will get two shares of JPL. Though on the face of it the deal looked expensive and shares of JPL closed at 3.16 low at 115.05 on BSE, most media analysts have given the deal the thumbs up. <br> <a href=http://www.exchange4media.com/e4m/news/fullstory.asp?Section_id=5&News_id=38044&Tag=3652 target= _blank><b><font color=red>Mixed Media extra!</font> Pradyuman Maheshwari on whether the Jagran buy will mean sunnier times for Mid- Day</b></a> <br> <a href=http://www.exchange4media.com/e4m/news/fullstory.asp?Section_id=5&News_id=38045&Tag=3653 target= _blank><b><font color=red>Flashed Yesterday: </font> Jagran Prakashan Ltd to acquire Mid-Day’s print business</b></a>
Top five Marathi publications have seen a decline as per IRS 2010 Q1 data, when compared to IRS 2009 R2. Among the top five Marathi dailies, two have witnessed decline, while all four Marathi magazines have seen a decline in AIR (average issue readership). In the last round of IRS, three dailies out of the top five saw a decline, while three of the four Marathi Magazines saw growth.
Despite all the controversies surrounding it, IPL3 has a lot of reasons to celebrate. In its third season, the grand finale of IPL, played on Sunday, April 25, 2010, has delivered double digit TVR of 10.5 per cent and a reach of 49 million.
Compared to the top 10 English dailies, the top 10 Hindi dailies have registered growth as per IRS 2010 Q1 data, with not a single daily witnessing de-growth when compared to IRS 2009 R2. This may bring some respite to the print industry. The top 10 Hindi magazines, too, have received good growth, though three of the Hindi magazines among the top ten have witnessed a decline in AIR.
The Indian Readership Survey (IRS) Q1 2010 tells the same story this time as well. English publications seem to be following the same trend when it comes to AIR (Average Issue Readership) figures, which is the trend of decline. Magazines have taken a harder hit than newspapers.
Bajaj Finserv, the financial services company of Bajaj Group, has announced its new line of business, wherein Bajaj Auto Finance had launched its Construction Equipment (CE) financing and Retail Loan against Securities business in April this year. Bajaj Finserv has also unveiled its new brand identity as well as its plans to venture into Wealth Management Services.
The ‘Media quotient – what is your MQ?’ is all set for the grand finale in Mumbai tonight. The Delhi regionals were held on May 5, which saw Team Underdogs comprising Nitesh Bhasin and Ranjeet Verma emerge the winners. They will now compete with the winners of the Kolkata and Bangalore rounds and the Mumbai round, which will be held on May 6, for the MQ crown.
First came the news of some agency heads erring while sitting on the jury of GoaFest, followed by allegations and counter allegations. It was then time to wait and see how the GoaFest Managing Committee manages the issue. Now, comes an official statement of Bhaskar Das, President, Ad Club Bombay, which has kind of thrown a googly.
Sanjeev Srivastava has put in his papers at Sahara Group, where he has been CEO and Editor-in-Chief, heading all media related activities of the Group. When contacted, Srivastava confirmed to exchange4media about his decision to quit the Group, but refused to speak about his next destination.
Infomedia18 Ltd, a controlled subsidiary of Television Eighteen India Ltd, has divested 100 per cent stake in Glyph International, its publishing content services business, to Cenveo Inc’s subsidiaries. Cenveo Inc is one of the world’s leading providers of content management and print production services. Post the rights issue completed earlier and this transaction, Infomedia18 now has a cash rich balance sheet, well positioned to support the investment led growth going forward.
Jagran Prakashan Ltd (JPL) has informed BSE that the Board of Directors of the company, at its meeting held on May 5, 2010, has approved the Scheme of Arrangement under Sections 391 to 394 of the Companies Act, 1956. As per the Scheme of Arrangement the print business of MML would be demerged and transferred to JPL with effect from April 1, 2010.
Pradyuman Maheshwari rues the sale of a Mumbai institution to an ‘outsider’, but believes that the Jagran acquisition will do Mid-Day’s print publications a world of good.
There are two ways the new owners of Mid-Day can view the paper, says Aakar Patel, who had edited the paper for six years, and both ways are valid because both are true. The first is as an afternoon newspaper, which presumes that Mid-Day is a second read for its consumer. The second way of looking at Mid-Day is as a city daily: an alternative newspaper for an audience that does not regularly read a morning English broadsheet.