Times Group slashes Bengali daily's price to take on market leader ABP

Ei Samay, the Bengali newspaper from The Times of India (TOI) stable launched during the Durga Puja season last year, has slashed its cover price as it nears its first subscription renewal.

Ei Samay will now be on the news-stand for Rs 2.50, half the price of market leader Anandabazar Patrika, which sells at Rs 5. When launched, Ei Samay, too, had a cover price of Rs 5.

According to TOI insiders, Ei Samay hasn't met circulation projections and hence the price revision. According to Times Group's internal figures, Ei Samay's circulation is 3,50,000 copies.

"We are doing good, but the estimate was higher and that is why the cover price has been slashed so that more people would be interested in giving it a shot. We are focusing more on cash sales," said an Ei Samay circulation department executive.

However, Kaustubh Chatterjee, brand head of Ei Samay, said it has slashed prices because the Bengali news daily has got a firm foothold in the market in a very short span of time.

"We entered in October and have done well. Plans are afoot to take it to the next level. We are doing away with the subscription model for Ei Samay. The revenue earned from each paper sold through vendors is higher than the ones sold through subscriptions," he said.

A Times Response executive told Business Standard it was a marketing strategy to boost sales while competing with Anandabazar Patrika, one of the oldest and strongest Bengali news dailies. Times Response handles the advertisement and branding aspects of TOI and Ei Samay.

During its launch last year, Ei Samay had said its competition was with Anandabazar Patrika, even as the ABP Group launched a Bengali tabloid, E Bela. However, after the drop in prices, Ei Samay is closer to E-Bela, priced at Rs 2.

The move from the Times group has fuelled speculation whether ABP would follow. However, Vinod Gupta, a vendor who heads many retail points in the city said there was no indication of this.

When contacted, an ABP spokesperson did not comment on whether a price cut was on the cards. "ABP does not need to do anything of that sort. It is already the leader and that too by a strong margin. The arrival of Ei Samay has not made any impact on ABP's Bengali daily readership. In fact, smaller dailies like Ek Din, Sangbad Pratidin and Sakalbela have felt the tremors," he said.

The circulation of Anandabazar Patrika is around 580,000 copies in Kolkata, while Ei Samay, in city only, has 350,000 copies. According to Audit Bureau of Circulation figures, Anandabazar Patrika has a circulation of about 1.25 million in West Bengal.

Other competitors in the vernacular space are Bartaman, Aajkaal, Sangbad Pratidin, Ganashakti, Sakalbela, Ekdin and NEWZ Bangla.