Eenadu to launch Delhi edition today

Close on the heels of the launch of its Mumbai edition, the Rs 800-crore Eenadu Group is set to launch the Delhi edition of its Telugu daily today. With a print run of 10,000 copies, Eenadu (which recorded a readership of 96 lakh in NRS 2002) will target the 1.5-2 lakh Telugu population in the capital city. In line with its price in the other states, Eenadu Delhi will be available at Rs 2.80 between Monday and Saturday and at Rs 3.50 on Sundays.

Talking to agencyfaqs!, I Venkat, director, Eenadu Group said, Eenadu Delhi will have two specific sections. Besides the main paper that is published from Hyderabad, Delhi will have a city-specific supplement, Eenadu Delhi. An editorial team is already in place for Eenadu Delhi, which Venkat says is ‘sufficient for the current requirements'. Like its other editions, Eenadu Delhi will have all the regular feature sections covering health, sports, science, infotech, youth and children, and women on weekdays. On Sundays, there will be a special supplement called Aadivaram.

With the Delhi launch, Eenadu will have 23 Telugu editions across the states of Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and the four cities of Andhra Pradesh including Mahaboobnagar, Ongole, Khamman and Nizamabad. In the second phase, the group plans to launch region-specific city edition like the West Delhi Plus or the South Delhi Plus of The Times Of India.

To begin with, Venkat says, the Group is keeping its expectations low. He agrees that a print order of 10,000 is a modest number, but points out that the Group launched its Mumbai edition on the back of a similar print order. "Of course, we are now printing more than 10,000 copies in Mumbai," says Venkat.

While the company is upbeat about its prospects in the capital city, the question is, is the time right to explore new territories? With the slump in the advertising market, how does the Group hope to attain a critical mass? Venkat is unruffled. "There is no such thing as a wrong time," he avers. "In the service industry, you have to keep giving something new to the reader. Of course, for us the numbers are also important."

And it is advertising on which Eenadu will get the vital numbers. However, the Group will be entering Delhi ‘without much advertising support', confesses Venkat. "We are not getting into a ready-made market. We have to actually develop this market," he adds. © 2002 agencyfaqs!