Rajasthan Patrika launches its eveninger
News Today. Will it sustain the hype?
Eveningers are supposed to be for people who don't have any time to browse through morning newspapers. The concept may sound lucrative, but as far as ground reality goes, eveningers still haven't worked too successfully in India.
Which is why the Rs 450-500 crore (Rs 4.5 to 5 billion), Jaipur-based, Hindi daily,
Rajasthan Patrika's
launch of its evening daily
News Today on January 6, 2006 came as a bit of surprise.
According to Arvind Kalia, national director, marketing, Rajasthan Patrika, "We want to offer an integrated 360-degree solution to our readers. We are trying to make our presence felt in different genres."
He explains that the company, besides bidding for radio space, also has a creative department working on hoardings and providing outdoor services.
It also boasts of a yellow pages directory and has its presence in interactive activities through mobile phones and the Net. According to him, "
News Today is just another opportunity for us to reach out to our readers and extend our services."
But is there really a need for an eveninger in a city like Jaipur? "Why not?" counters Kalia, "Jaipur has seen a heady pace in development and can be compared to any other metro." Priced at Re 1, the target audience for News Today, says Kalia,
"will be regular readers of mainline Hindi morning newspapers with a majority of them being the working class Indian."