Indian Express to bet big on subscription; Nandagopal Rajan to lead new initiatives

CEO of Indian Express Online, Sanjay Sindhwani, recently, wrote an email to the entire organisation. According to sources in the organisation who read the email, Sindhwani was bullish about the achievements of the digital business in the past nine quarters that he has been a part of.

He mentioned that the advertising led business model is good enough to sustain, but “not good enough to fuel growth at scale” that will enable Indian Express Online to deliver quality journalism consistently.

He stated that the organisation’s digital portfolios will now move towards subscriptions as a “key business strategy”. Last year, as the pandemic-induced lockdowns disrupted the supply chain and circulations of the daily broadsheets came to standstill, especially in the metros.

As the advertising revenues dropped, newspapers started introducing paywalls. Indian Express decided to put all its ePapers behind paywalls and Sindhwani, in his email mentioned that ePapers have attained success but that’s not enough. Going forward, Sindhwani hinted that the organisation will rollout new digital initiatives for paid subscribers to access.

Indian Express, according to Comscore, is one of the top three English websites in the country. However, if sources are to be believed, then Executive Director, The Indian Express Group and Head of New Media Anant Goenka and CEO Sanjay Sindhwani have "bigger, broader and deeper" plans and thus they are investing heavily in product and editorial. With that in the backdrop, the media conglomerate will rollout a set of new initiatives including audio and web offerings.

Sindhwani, in his mail has introduced Nandagopal Rajan – Editor, Indian Express Online as “lead - new initiatives in subscriptions on Indian Express”. Rajan has also been the Technology Editor of Indian Express newspaper. "Nandu, as he is popularly known as, has worn many hats in his career. He has played the product function; he has been a technology editor and he understands content and 'Express' audiences like no one else in the organisation," wrote Sindhwani.