The DB Group companies Diligent Media Corporation and DB Corporation in Mumbai, India, have placed the “largest ever single order for printing press lines by an Indian publisher” with Koenig & Bauer (KBA). The order includes seven 4/1 Prisma presses with a total of 25 reelstands, 25 four-high towers and seven folders.
The seven KBA Prisma presses that will print a raft of titles including Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar and DNA titles will ship this year (1)
Diligent Media is a joint venture between two media heavyweights, the Dainik Bhaskar Group and the Zee Group. One of India’s premier print media players, the Dainik Bhaskar Group publishes not only India’s top Hindi newspaper, Dainik Bhaskar, but also the no. 1 title in Gujarat, Divya Bhaskar. DB Corporation is the group’s printing arm. In all, the Dainik Bhaskar Group has over 40 editions, printed from 36 centres, with a total print order of over 4 million copies each day. The group’s papers have a total readership of over 20 million readers. The group also owns and operates 17 radio channels in principal Indian cities, and has major forays in internet portals, cable TV, real estate, outdoor media etc.
Zee Group’s Zee TV reaches more than 250 million viewers in 120 countries through its 30 channels in various genres such as news, music, sports, movies, reality, general entertainment etc in more than eight languages. Zee group also owns the largest DTH venture, a cable distribution company, content production companies and so on.
From the left: R. Bhatnagar (vice-president, Diligent Media Corporation), Christoph Müller (executive vice-president for web press sales, marketing and service, KBA), P. Agarwal (publisher, DB Corporation), Günter Noll (sales manager, KBA), M. Venkataraman (COO, Diligent Media Corporation) and Albin Frank (divisional head of sales support, KBA) pictured after the contract was signed (2)
Diligent Media Corporation’s titles include an English-language daily, Daily News & Analysis (DNA), a Sunday edition, DNA Me, and diverse supplements such as After Hours and DNA Money. “DNA is the fastest growing English newspaper in the country. It has grown at a consistent rate of about 22% over the last two survey periods. We are looking at launching DNA in other major metros. Gujarat is our first step towards this goal, with the launch in November of two editions in Ahmedabad and Surat,” says CEO K U Rao. “The intention is to become a large national player with dominant readership and circulation over the next three years. As in Mumbai, DNA in Gujarat aims at targeting the young-at-heart genre of the population.” DNA will soon be launched in Baroda and Rajkot as well. Plans are also under way to launch a second edition of DNA in the state of Maharashtra from the city of Pune in January 2008.
DNA Me currently has a circulation of 410,000 in Mumbai, and the group is planning to lift this over the 600,000 mark with a new, 140-page national edition that hit the streets on 7 October. CEO K U Rao says: “To achieve this level of growth we need high-powered printing technology. We awarded the contract to KBA after carrying out detailed technical appraisals of all the possible press lines and seeing the 4/1 Prisma in action at the Bangkok Post, where it compellingly demonstrated its user-friendliness and high print quality. Also, KBA’s reputation for innovation is well-known in India.”
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