Sangeeta Tanwar
Media

Mid-Day to launch Pune edition in early August

Mid-Day Multimedia Ltd claims that the emerging city is the right choice for expanding the reach of the tabloid

Mid-Day Multimedia Ltd is coming out with the Pune edition of its afternoon tabloid, Mid-Day. The tabloid will hit the stands in Pune on August 4.

Mid-Day has editions in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru at the moment. Speaking to afaqs!, Neville Bastawalla, head, marketing, Mid-Day, says, “Pune is the right choice for expanding the reach of the tabloid. Research shows that the city is emerging as a commercial hub and will soon be the hottest destination for young talent. Infrastructure and development activities are on an upswing, adding to the prosperity. Within a year, about 27 new five star hotels are expected to come up in the city.”

Mid-Day to launch Pune edition in early August
Neville Bastawalla
Bastawalla points out that the target group (TG) for Mid-Day comprises YUMPIs (young urban mobile professionals across India), so making inroads into a young city such as Pune makes perfect business sense.

Mid-Day's Pune edition will be a 32-page daily priced at Rs 2. The initial print run for the tabloid is claimed to be around 25,000 copies. It will go in for a subscription model to cultivate a dedicated readership and will also be available on newsstands. Bastawalla reveals that the discrepancy in the pricing of the tabloid in different cities will soon be rectified. Currently, it is priced at Rs 3 in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.

Topics popular with young office going professionals will form the bulk of the tabloid’s content. There will be columns covering Bollywood news and astrology. Local news pertaining to the city, such as local hot spots and eating joints or the most talked about news of the day, will be added to impart a local flavour.

Bastawalla claims that the circulation figures for the Mid-Day Mumbai edition stands at more than two lakh copies, while the Delhi and Bengaluru editions command circulation figures of 75,000 and 60,000, respectively. Mid-Day has opted out of the ABC (audit bureau cicrulation) since 2002. He is confident that with a good product, the tabloid will be able to attract a major chunk of national advertisers in Pune. At the same time, he claims, Mid-Day will attract local advertisers such as pubs, eating joints and other similar establishments without much difficulty.

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