Deccan Chronicle @ Re 1 to enter Chennai on March 28

agencyfaqs! > news & features > Deccan Chronicle @ Re 1 to enter Chennai on March 28: "The Chennai market is white hot. Deccan Chronicle is all geared up to launch its Chennai edition on March 28. Apart from this, the Hyderabad-based English daily has also offered annual subscriptions at Rs 99 for ICICI Bank's card holders in the city. In comparison, The Hindu sells for for Rs 3.25 on weekdays and Rs 4.50 on Sundays.

Industry sources confirm that Deccan Chronicle will start with an initial circulation of 1.75 lakh to 2 lakh. In comparison, the average net paid circulation of The Hindu's Chennai edition is 3.44 lakh (as per Audit Bureau of Circulations, July to December, 2004).

Meanwhile, The Times of India, which was initially planning to launch its Chennai edition by May-end, has apparently decidedly to delay its entry by a couple of months. It seems the Chennai edition is now scheduled for the later part of calendar year 2005. An interesting aside: Before joining Deccan Chronicle this month, Venkatraman was director-corporate, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. (BCCL), publishers of The Times of India. He was in charge of TOI's Chennai project.

Prasun Kumar, media group head, Madison, Delhi. He says, “The Chennai market is more matured. It's similar to Kolkata, where lower price couldn't remove the market leader from its position. The differentiating factor will be the content and marketing activities. Only invitational price of Re 1 cannot help Deccan Chronicle to be a strong number two in the Chennai market.”

Kumar adds, “However, I feel that Deccan Chronicle will try to carve out a niche for itself, and cater to a new set of readers. And as a matter of fact, the entire Tamil Nadu print market will further expand with the entry of more players.” As per IRS 2005, Round 1, the total readership for any English daily in Tamil Nadu is 7.38 lakh. Of this, The Hindu's readership is 6.89 lakh."