HT Media Ltd has reported a 44 per cent drop in its standalone net profit at Rs 23.43 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2009 from Rs 41.59 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. This fall has been attributed to higher newsprint prices, slow growth in advertising revenues and adverse foreign currency movements, among others.
Afternooner Mid-Day has won the maximum number of awards among Indian entries at the INMA (International News Media Marketing Association) Awards 2009 held at Miami, USA. Mid-Day brought home a Gold, Silver and Bronze in different categories.
Following Government’s decision to allow up to 100 per cent FDI, foreign newspapers are venturing into India with their facsimile editions. After Wall Street Journal launching its facsimile edition in Delhi and Mumbai on May 18, Financial Times is now expected to follow suit soon.
English magazines have continued to show a decline in readership in the latest round of the Indian Readership Survey. Both Total Readership (TR) and Average Issue Readership (AIR) metrics see a sharp decline, with TR going down more. In an attempt to go beyond the analysis of topline data, exchange4media.com, in association with media analysis firm Stratagem Media, presents IRS 2009 R1 INSIGHT. Today’s Insight focuses on English magazines. <br> <a href=http://www.exchange4media.com/IRS/2009/fullstory.asp?section_id=40&news_id=34782&pict=3&tag=30005 target= _blank><b>IRS 2009 R1: ‘Readership surveys not geared to capture true readership of magazines’</b></a>
The Lok Sabha election results are out and the verdict has overwhelmingly been in Congress’ favour. India’s two biggest parties – the Congress and the BJP – had embarked in a high decibel political ad campaign prior to the polls. exchange4media asks some of India’s top ad honchos on what they thought worked for Congress and soured things for the BJP.
As Vice-President of Mudra Communications, Samir Khanna’s guiding principal has been to evolve from media planner to advertising planner to become integrated communications planners. Khanna considers his 13-year media journey as exciting and challenging. The GenNext Media Magnate is chosen by a committee comprising the exchange4media editorial team in consultation with Raj Nayak.
Bucking the slowdown trends, Mint is set to capture the Eastern market. The business paper from the HT Media stable is set to launch in Kolkata from May 25. Mint is planning to follow this launch with a Chennai launch soon. It may be noted that Mint has emerged as the fastest growing English daily as per the IRS 2009 R1 data.
While IRS (or NRS, if it ever rises from the ashes) must take a fundamental re-look at all aspects of the research methodology involved – from sampling to the interview process to the method for projection – there is one area that needs particularly urgent attention, says Rahul Kansal, Chief Marketing Officer, BCCL.
The IRS 2009 R1 data paints a gloomy picture for the English magazines, which have continued with the decline trend seen in IRS 2008 R2. In a bid to understand this decline in readership numbers exchange4media spoke with some leading magazine publishers. This is what they had to say.
The PR industry is reeling under a perception problem, notwithstanding the fact that many disciplines that are offshoots of PR, such as Opinion Research, have gained the desired respectability and credibility, much more than PR itself. The stumbling block to PR’s full-fledged growth has been the peripheral approach of practitioners. Devoid of substance of a certain calibre, the focus of self-styled PR pros continues to be the ‘column-centimetre’.