Bennet Coleman To Close Down E-Times

Bennett Coleman & Co, proprietor of The Times of India, has decided to stop publication of E-Times, a television guide and entertainment magazine, from April. The supplement is distributed every fortnight to the subscribers of the newspaper in Delhi and Mumbai free of cost.

The company plans to publish one weekly edition of Delhi Times and Mumbai Times, another city news supplement, instead of two at present.

Although senior executives were not available for comments, company sources confirmed the decision. In all probability. the April 4 edition of E-Times will be the last, they said.

The staff of E-Times in both the metropolis have reportedly been informed about the decision and are in the process of being relocated in other positions in the paper.

Sources said the TV listings E-Times carry will be merged in one of the city-specific supplements. This decision follows The Indian Express move, which stopped publication of Tele Express and shifted the TV listings to its city supplement, Express Newsline.

The decision to shut down E-Times comes close on the heels of Living Media-promoted TV Today, followed by TV & Video World, the oldest TV magazines. TV & Video World had its last issue this month.

Infotainment of The Hindustan Times is the last existing TV listing and entertainment supplement to come free with newspapers in Delhi and Mumbai.

TV Today was closed down seven months after inception following massive losses amounting to Rs 2.5 crore.

Proprietor Aroon Purie, while announcing the closure, had told the TV Today staff that probably the readers are still not prepared for such a magazine, Living Media sources said.