The Telegraph launches edition for coastal Orissa

Published by the ABP Group, The Telegraph has launched an edition that will cater to readers in nine districts across coastal Orissa.

The English daily already has an edition that caters to the cities in western Orissa. With the launch of the new edition, it will now cover the whole of the state.

The English daily will bear a cover price of Rs 3.50 from Monday to Saturday and Rs 5 on Sundays. The newspaper is eyeing a circulation of 15,000-20,000 copies. The western edition of the newspaper covers 11 districts and has a circulation of 7,000 copies.

The Telegraph comes out with editions from Guwahati, which caters the entire Northeast, Siliguri for North Bengal and Sikkim, and Jamshedpur and Ranchi editions for Jharkhand.

The new edition will not be a subscription led model; rather, the focus will be on selling the copies on the newsstands. The edition, on an average, will have 16 pages of the main edition and 8 pages of a tabloid titled t2. Apart from this, the daily will have a few weekly supplements including Jobs - a tabloid on jobs; Telekids - a tabloid for children; CareerGraph - a guide for students and graduates on the lookout for jobs and career opportunities; and Graphiti - a lifestyle magazine on Sundays.

Talking about the new launch, Dhruba Mukherjee, associate vice-president, The Telegraph, says, "This will be a standalone edition and we are looking at generating about 40 per cent ad ratio in the times to come." Explaining the marketing activities surrounding the launch, Mukherjee adds that the group has undertaken a 360 degree initiative that includes a healthy mix of outdoor, activation, radio, digital and mobile campaign.

The Telegraph has taken 50 outdoor locations across the coastal region of Orissa, in addition to mall activations and flash mob activities.

The Coastal Orissa edition will have a section of local news called Metro, where four pages will be dedicated to local news coverage.

The newspaper will face competition from The Times of India and New Indian Express.