IRS 2008: Times of India leads in Mumbai, challenged by new papers

Mumbai's dominant English language newspaper is now seeing its monopoly challenged by its lesser rivals.

Mid-Day, Indian Express, Mumbai Mirror, Hindustan Times and DNA seem to have taken the sheen off TOI's lead in readership in Mumbai, and have also increased options available to advertisers.

Though TOI currently remains a favourite with the marketing community, the new papers (Mumbai Mirror, HT, and DNA) are starting to play more important roles in low-budget campaigns, having eaten into TOI's reader base in the metropolis.

Data from the 2008 Indian Readership Survey (IRS) shows The Old Lady of Boribunder, as the Times has been fondly kown among old timers, continues as the dominant paper for English newspaper readers in Mumbai, with a readership of 1,571,000, arginally higher than last year's readership figure of 1,553,000. New group morning tabloid Mumbai Mirror too ranks high at number two, with a readership of 737,000, against 719,000 2007 IRS survey.

The new standalone DNA has increased its readership as well, from 603,000 in the previous round to 622,000 this year. Mid-Day's readership jumped to 538,000 from 516,000 as per last year's data. The mumbai edition of the Hindustan Times (HT) had a readership of 381,000, up marginally from last year's count of 354,000.

The Indian Express' reader base seems to have shrunk somewhat at per IRS' data, to 68,000 from IRS' 2007 survey count of 81,000.

Advertisers say that though the newer papers such as HT and DNA have notched up 'decent numbers', they still have a long road ahead for them before they can effectively challenge TOI's dominance of the Mumbai market. The changing reader numbers is being interpreted as a sign of ebbing strength of the market leader.

Media observers say TOI's move in launching Mumbai Mirror effectively negated the possibility of a second English newspaper making its way into a number of households, which has taken the wind out of the sails for the new entrants. Though it cannibalised some of its own advertising market, it has eaten more into second and third rung publications such as Mid-Day and Indian Express.

The new papers give an option to advertisers seeking low reach, high frequency campaigns, along with viable options for premium positions across front pages, and catching the eye of the financial news reader. Marketers say that DNA and Hindustan Times, having added around a million additional readers to the 15.7 lakh reader base make for a great supplement, or even a replacement to TOI's dominance in some cases.

Sources say DNA and HT have added around 40-50 per cent additional readers to their respective bases since 2006, and TOI has not been able to win back the 1.7 lakh readers it lost in 2006.