The India Today Group is going to launch Mail Today, a tabloid in English, in Delhi on November 16 in a collaboration with Associated Newspapers (ANL), the publishers of Daily Mail. It will be a 48-page tabloid aiming to tap India’s emerging middle classes and neglected female readers. The tabloid has decided to give Indian women a sizable place in the newspaper with six to nine pages.

This is a joint venture between Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) and the India Today Group. Initially, 120,000 copies will be out in the market to target the nine million readers of English newspapers in Delhi and NCR region.

This has happened for the first time that the DMGT has decided to invest in newspaper publication outside Europe. At present, the British company is 26% stake in the joint venture as permitted by the government of India. On the question of its success, Arun Puri said that existing newspapers are bland. There is always a space for one that has attitude and takes a stand. The Daily Mail will appeal to Indian women, who have been ignored since long.

However, market trends say that Indian readers are more interested in political newsso it would be tough for the new venture to convince Indian readers that the paper would be serious about its news. The tabloid form of newspaper can hardly help him because it associates with downmarket journalism and the online journalism is growing with greater speed with the growth of Internet in India.

As far as Delhi market is concerned the Times of India has a daily circulation of 2.8 million and the Hindustan Times has more than 1.2 million copies a day in Delhi market. Street hawkers actually decide the selling of newspapers more than any other factor such ads or brands.

New ventures always face problem to woo the street hawkers in their favor. The Mail Today is also aiming to have a 50 percent female staff in the group to concentrate hard on special sections dealing with women’s health and other issues.

The entry of new publications in Indian market has created a vicious battle for skilled staff and it has increased salaries of traditionally low-paid Indian journalists at a new high. India’s pulsating media market is a faraway from the Western market where television stations, newspapers and magazines are reducing staffs because of decreasing numbers of viewers, deteriorating circulations and dwindling advertising revenues.