ABC certification for ‘Deccan Chronicle’, Chennai; Bangalore edition by March 2007

‘Deccan Chronicle’ has got ABC certification for its Chennai edition, which sold 2,95,326 copies for the period January-June 2006. After acquiring the certification, the publication plans to grow and consolidate both its Chennai and Andhra Pradesh editions.

The newspaper group will now look at areas such as Trichy and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. ‘Deccan Chronicle’ also plans to roll out its Bangalore edition by March 2007.

PK Iyer, executive director, Deccan Chronicle Holdings, says, “We are strong in Andhra Pradesh. Even in Chennai, this certification goes to prove that the readers have appreciated it.”

With the certification, Iyer is optimistic about the number of advertisers ‘Deccan Chronicle’ will attract. “Now, the advertisers will have a choice. With only ‘The Hindu’ being there, there wasn’t a second option,” he states.

Habeeb N, media director, Lodestar Universal (South), agrees, but only to an extent. “I see a big shift happening in the retail advertising space. They may get new advertisers now, but I doubt if advertisers will reduce their presence in ‘The Hindu’, which is extremely strong in Chennai,” he says.

The Hindu which is the market leader in Chennai has still not got its ABC certificate for the Jan-June 2006 period. However, the English daily’s circulation for the period July- December 2005 was 3,60,000. For the record, The Hindu sells at Rs 3.25 a copy while Deccan Chronicle sells for Rs 1.50.

Another important factor is the costing of both these publications in terms of advertising. ‘The Hindu’ is almost twice as costly as ‘Deccan Chronicle’ and, so, there is a possibility that its low cost will attract advertisers to the latter.

Another senior media planner foresees that a lot of corporate advertisers and frontline agencies will be interested, but not the regional advertisers. ‘Deccan Chronicle’ offers the Chennai edition as an add-on to its Hyderabad edition.

Media planners are not sure if the certification will give a big boost to the revenue of the newspaper and believe that it will take ‘Deccan Chronicle’ at least a couple of years to establish itself prominently.

‘Indian Express’, too, has been in Chennai for a long time, but hasn’t been able to make a mark yet. It was the strategic launch of ‘Deccan Chronicle’ that gave the paper a head start and helped it create a substantial base for itself.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!