Deccan Chronicle gains marketshare in Chennai
Apart from an attractive invitation (?) price I don’t think Deccan Chronicle (Chennai edition) has any other USP. I hope they are not overstating their circulation figures:
Net sales also more than doubled to Rs 102 crore from Rs 45.78 crore rupees as readership of the company's new edition in the southern city of Chennai jumped to 300,000 copies daily.
Net sales also more than doubled to Rs 102 crore from Rs 45.78 crore rupees as readership of the company's new edition in the southern city of Chennai jumped to 300,000 copies daily.
The company plans to step up Chennai's circulation to 400,000 copies in the coming months and reach 500,000 copies by December, P.K. Iyer said.
The Chennai edition of the Deccan Chronicle has managed to win market share from the two leading English dailies with a low price of one rupee, which can be sustained because of the surge in advertising revenues, he said.
posted by Kaps at
2:09 PM
11 Comments:
you are right on..
Price is their USP.. I know of few famiies who have switched to Decan C. for that reason..
By
Ram Viswanathan, at 3:30 PM
kaps : I'm not sure if this for good or bad.. but DC has decided to go for a kill. The figures quoted in ET may be true/
1. If you have a/c in ICICI Bank, you get a year's subscription @ Rs.99/-. No catch, No fine prints, nothing. ( its an early bird offer and is not available now) The tea kadai near my house, which buys dinathandhi, also buys DC. Many teashops, hair trimming consultants , dispensaries in chennai buys DC.
2. It is not only the price factor. IMHO, Chennai desparately needed a newspaper without much pseudo intellectual pretensions and sydicated articles from international dailies, which makes less or no sense to a fair amount of newspaper reading population, here. IE is in the other extreme. DC is trying to position itself between Hindu and IE and is proving success.
3. There are times when you want to know, why friedman declares the world is flat or His Highness Venu Srinivasan's views on corporate social responsibility. And there are also times when you want to keep yourself abreast on surya-jothika affair, or know the risk factors involved in buying 'sAmi' padam vcds at burma bazar or to know if 'that' is really kareena kapoor's. The tabloid shaped daily supplement fits the bill perfectly.
4. Economics. Leave that 99/- offer. Even if you buy the paper from the stands, you are bound to gain. reason, the nearest waste paper mart gives Rs.4.90/Kg. DC a month is good enough to buy a bottle of...
By
Jayaprakash Sampath, at 6:18 PM
Kaps, DC has another USP. It is Chennai's most Page 3-est broadsheet. The supplement, Chennai Chronicle has taken Page 3ism to TOI levels.
By
Anonymous, at 7:43 PM
I also want the DC to grow, to end the tyranny of THE HINDU and Ram.
By
Anonymous, at 8:42 PM
@Ram,
Although the invitation price can bring in new readers, DC needs to do more than that to retain these newly acquired readers
@Prakash,
Thanks for the insightful comments. I read about the ICICI Card subscription scheme earlier. that might have given DC about 30K subscribers.
If I'm reading you correctly, DC is publishing content similar to Tamil newspapers (non-intellectual??) and wooing people away from English dailies at attractive prices. I doubt how long this can sustain.
@VijayKrishna,
It would be interesting to see DC's reaction once ToI enters the market.
@Anon,
Do you think DC can really end the tyranny of Hindu and Ram?
By
Kaps, at 8:56 PM
DC sucks... going the TOI way with the p3 culture. And I am a Hyderabadi and I know how much DC sucked. Half of the main paper was ads and the supplement is p3 + lifestyle + etc. Basically its crap if you want news!
Both TOI and DC are crap!!
By
Anonymous, at 11:45 PM
I think, inspite of all its faults, DC is a welcome addition to Chennai newspaper scene, especially if you realise that it is the first one in more than 5 decades. The market is also today ready for DC kind of paper, as is proven Tamil Murasu in the tamil paper field.
By
SLN, at 4:29 AM
Kaps,
Interesting post. I'm a loyal Hindu reader, period! But their pricing policy leaves me worried. What could account for the fact that one is 250% more than another english newspaper which can be produced for Rs 1/-? With 'Metro' style supplements/tabloids everyday? Arrogance? High overheads? Fat salaries? Desire to make profits at the cost of the reader? High editorial quality? Brand value? Whatever it is, it would be interesting to know the 'Mount Road Mahavishnu's' POV. I know people who scoff at the DC but ultimately, its all market economics. In business, one has to give the customer what he wants, if you have to surive! The Hindu better keep the age old dictum in mind "The taller the tree, the harder it will fall!"
Cheeers,
Ravi
By
Anonymous, at 3:48 PM
I used to work for the hindu. and they dont pay fat salaries..they pay a pittance and give veshti and podavai for pongal to make up. the top guns however drive in fancy flashy cars. Its not just the paper thats expensive but the advertising rates will make ur eyeballs pop and your heartbeat race...they are just plain arrogant. its high time TN advertisers have a choice, the readers have a choice and prospective media house employees have a choice. I hope DC succeeds..but yes they better improve content and printing..its pretty awful right now.
By
Anonymous, at 8:58 AM
Deccan Herald and Time of India are good pornographic magazines. They are similar to Debonair.
They carry news but the "main" content is more.
By
Anonymous, at 3:35 PM
how to subscribe Deccan chronicle
By
samm, at 11:10 AM
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