Mid Day launches "dawn" edition

Readers of the tabloid Mid Day were in for a surprise yesterday. The media house launched a new "dawn" edition, which, according to Aakar Patel, editor, Mid Day, is positioned as an alternative to the available morning newspapers. "It is different in terms of content from the afternoon edition of the paper, with emphasis on delivering news in a compact form," he says.

Called Mid Day AM, the new edition, as described by Patel in a brief write-up in the paper, is "an intelligently edited, brisk read, which will update you with all the important news quickly but thoroughly and entertainingly". The afternoon edition, according to Patel, will continue to focus on city, entertainment and sports news, with "updated stories and regular features".

The number of editions, which were three earlier, will be restricted to two from now, that is, one in the morning - precisely, at the crack of dawn - and the other, around noon. The media house continues to remain silent though on the issue of equity dilution of the promoter family, the Ansaris, in Mid Day Multimedia Ltd, which publishes the tabloid Mid Day.

Last year, the Ansaris had announced their desire to offload their stake in Mid Day Multimedia, which stands at 68.91 per cent, after receiving several "expressions of interest" from national as well as international media players.

Manajit Ghosal, CFO of Mid Day, had maintained in an interview to agencyfaqs! (December 2003) that the company had not begun with a sellout in mind, but was merely looking to raise money for expansion. However, observing the interest evinced by various media players to partner or invest in the company, the management, Ghosal had claimed, decided to keep its options open.

While Hindustan Times, Bennett, Coleman & Co and the Sakal Group of Newspapers were tipped to be frontrunners for an equity stake, it's status quo at Mid Day Multimedia as we stand in March 2004. © 2004 agencyfaqs!