So, it's official now. Vijay Sankeshwar's letter to the readers on the front page a couple of days back confirming that the young upstart, Vijay Times/Vijaya Kannada that that quickly gained market share had been taken over by the TOI group. While it managed to agitate some minds, some of the concerns are quite legitimate. For the staid South Indian newspapers like 'The Hindu' and 'Deccan Herald' which have been quietly experiencing a declining market share this is a warning shot across the bow. While a direct takeover attempt may not be the immediate threat, there is no doubt about the intentions of 'media companies' from other states.
To me, the most important lesson from Vijay Times is that a local upstart can be very effective in warding off the barbarians at the gates. Support from the owners/parent company is vital, and in that respect 'The Hindu' is under no immediate threat. Vijay Sankeshwar was originally a truck operator from Hubli. Besides their family connection with the other business group Tamil Nadu, the DMK, should ensure that a hostile takeover does not go through. The Tamil readers might also turn out to be a lot more vociferous in their opposition - anyway stage-managed protests, expressions of anger, attempted self-immolations etc are a cottage industry in TN, and the amount of dust that is likely to get kicked up by any such misadventure by the TOI is likely to be significant. There is one factor that could make the impossible very real - the changing business interest of the DMK business group.
P.S. There is one story that suggests the owners of VT were the ones after TOI, and not the other way round.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
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3 comments:
The dominant Tamil media are all politically aligned. The only relatively neutral group is Vikatan. Some of these publications might continue to run with political backing even if they are not financially viable. I don't think ToI would be interested in this space. More importantly, I don't think the Tamil publications would be keen on selling out to ToI.
Kaps:
I had the Hindu in mind, mainly, when I wrote it. It never occurred to me about the Tamil publications. Hmmm.
I liked Vijay Times, and always thought that the main lesson from VT was that, there is always room for a new newspaper even in established bastions like Chennai and Bangalore. If someone could get the same backing that Vijay Sankeshwar gave to VT, I am pretty sure the Hindu can be easy rattled . VT inspite of owners not being really interested in quality journalism has some pretty good people on board and was rooted locally. That's all it takes to challenge a behemoth like the Hindu.
I hadn't heard of VT before and I was under the impression that ToI has bought a Kannada language newspaper (Vijaya Kannada). Now I get the full picture.
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