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Metropolitan Media Company Pvt Ltd is a 50-50 private limited company
in which the two newspaper groups had ploughed in Rs 50 million
each as shareholding. The company has two directors each from the
two newspapers, but Kapoor says none of the directors were from
the families which own the two groups that have for long been traditional
rivals on the print media scene. The directors were managers in
their respective newspapers, he points out.
Kapoor, who admits he has had no experience of a newspaper and
is essentially a marketing man, is also emphatic that he has devised
his own policies and there had been no interference or diktat from
either the Directors or the owners of TOI – the Jains
– or HT – the Birlas.
However, he admits that some help was being taken from both newspaper
groups, as "there is no point in duplicating everything".
Thus, the new tabloid is being published at the HT Printing Press
in Noida for the first two years, after which the TOI press will
do it. The advertising of both newspapers are helping the initial
publicity of Metro Now, "for a fee".
Proudly noting that the tabloid was brought out in a period of just
five months, Kapoor says Metro Now has a completely new team of
77 set to increase soon to 85. The staff of the tabloid itself is
handling the marketing, he adds. The marketing was at present on
traditional lines, but steps were being taken to target the youth
and avoid the run-of-the-mill type of marketing. Activities would
be undertaken shortly aimed at the youth to popularize the tabloid.
According to Kapoor, being young had anything to do with age, and
it was the attitude that mattered. But the tabloid will not have
‘masala for the sake of masala’, he is quick to point
out. It is also important to build credibility and trust, he says.
Strategically priced at Rs 1, the tabloid has around 48 pages every
day. Clearly, this means a lot of subsidization, and Kapoor says
he has set a target of two years for breaking even though he claims
confidence in achieving this goal earlier. He says the aim is to
ensure readership through "casual purchase". The present
focus is also on cash sales and not subscriptions.
Asked if it has been modelled on the tabloid Sun published
in the UK, he denies this, adding that the British paper was too
bold to fit into the mould of our culture and traditions. "I
would not like to print a paper I was afraid to read with my family.
No one will be embarrassed by my newspaper," Kapoor adds.
While denying that the aim was to bring out other publications,
he says attempts would be made to first stabilise this tabloid and
then perhaps think in terms of similar tabloids in other metros.
But this may not happen for a year or two, he adds.
Kamal Kishore Singh, who is Editor of the tabloid, tells Indiantelevision.com
that Delhi did not have a market for tabloids despite the presence
of two afternoon tabloids. Both TOI and HT had been
exploring the market for launching tabloids, and it was natural
that they should come together.
He says that care has been taken to ensure that Metro Now did
not have the kind of content that could be seen in either Delhi
Times or HT City. The paper has been modeled on Bombay
Mirror and not the Sun, he clarifies. People expect their
newspapers to behave in a certain way, "but we do not want
to do that. We will create our own readership".
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